Ozian Adventures: The Murder and its Afterlife
by wickedmetalviking1990
Summary: sequel to "Witch's Soul." Glinda returns to Oz after the death of Elphaba, only to discover that the "Wicked Witch" might not be as dead as she thought. Can she accomplish the impossible? Will there ever be rest for her and for her friends, awaiting her return across the Nonestic Sea? Musical-verse, rated T.
1. She Who Walks Alone

**(AN: Okay, I thought I'd never get this far. Even when I was coming up with the ideas for where we have come to, as early as _The Witch's Saga_, I didn't believe I could have made it as far as this: eight pieces and a ninth one in the works!)  
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**(A few housekeeping tips and then we'll dive right in. If you have not been keeping up with the _Ozian Adventures_, I suggest you begin, starting with _Another World Another War_ by _LittleGreenFae, _continued in _FotR: Another World_ by me unto this one. Pairings are Fiyeraba, Bessa and Glinda/OC [if I so choose], setting is post-musical. While this story is not necessarily a cross-over, very little of the action takes place in Oz proper, as our characters have been on the run/whisked away from Oz. There will be references to other things from the other stories, and therefore let me state that I do not own the following things: _Wicked_, _Lord of the Rings_, _Soul Calibur_ or any other licensed names, places and such from their separate fictions. I recommend that you review as often and as frequently as possible: as this series was started because the original author gave me permission to continue the story she could not complete, I welcome your suggestions. They might just find their way into the scheme of things in this story.)  
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**(Title of the story, of course, comes from _Wicked_ the book, and title of this chapter comes from the song by _Orchid_, as I was listening to _Orchid_ during the brainstorm session where I came up with some of the ideas for this story.)  
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* * *

**She Who Walks Alone**

Oz. Little could she believe that, barely five months ago, she was standing in this same spot, within Kumbricia's Pass, looking out at a very different Oz than the one she had grown up in and called her home. She had not _really_ been there, only a duplicate, a schism of her consciousness in a magically-formed body: it looked, spoke, acted like her and had all of her memories. But that was all in the past, the distant past as it was: that duplicate had been destroyed and, by and by, its memories and what it had experienced returned to her.

Now she stood, Glinda Upland, looking out once again upon Oz. It was exactly as she remembered it: to the right, in the East, the Yellow Brick Road wound like a yellow snake across the green of the lands all the way to the emerald haze of Oz's capital: the Emerald City. She had come to the right date, though she feared she was unable to accomplish such a feat. Elphaba had always been the more powerful in magic, but Elphaba was dead, cut down by her own hand, or so some might say. Glinda would not say such, for she refused to believe that the green-skinned woman who had faced death at her hand was her beloved Elphaba Thropp.

_Oz already seems a little less colorful,_ Glinda thought. _Without her greatest daughter._

She looked down at herself. She wore the white dress, made by the tailors of Worms when she lived among them, and shoes of that kind as well. Whatever had happened to the Elvish boots, she knew not. In one hand she held Elphaba's broomstick and in the other, her hat. On her back was the black cloak she herself had given Elphaba in the attic of the Emerald Palace, so long ago it seemed like a legend of Oz's beginning. Her crystal, given to her by one of her other duplicates, had broken upon her arrival in Oz. Now she was here, blind and alone, in her own homeland, though she could see.

She had a task to complete.

* * *

In the swampland of Quadling, the Southern land of Oz, Glinda the Good held rule. She was a Gilikin sorceress, formerly known as an "Ambassador of Goodness" among the people of Loyal Oz during the reign of the Wizard. Unlike the Wizard, her magic was real. A great palace she had magicked into being, that floated with the swamp. She was fair and kind to all, even the Quadlings, red-skinned marsh-people who were considered sub-human by the rest of greater Oz.

But she wasn't real. Anyone who knew the real Glinda Upland, or "Galinda Upland", the person who had been given the meaningless title "Glinda the Good", knew that she was a much different person. She was naive, but not good. Manipulative, not fair. And she was selfish more than kind. High society and parties were what she had cared for, and the marsh-people simply didn't exist in her narrow world. Furthermore, Glinda Upland was blond, not a red-head.

To the people of Oz, however, this mattered not. When a red-haired woman came floating down in a bubble out of the sky one day, dressed in a beautiful ballgown and wielding a wand with a snow-flake tip, they called out to her as though she were Glinda. She had even managed to convince the skeptics that she was Glinda. She then moved her palace from the Emerald City and settled in Quadling country, where she held rulings as Oz's _de facto_ ruler.

This "Glinda Upland" sat in her bedroom, brushing out her long, beautiful red hair and humming a song about popularity. Every little quirk was counted for, memorized and repeated in order to make the disguise seem good. It fooled everyone in Oz, everyone except her. She knew that she was not the real Glinda Upland, she knew that, one day, her time would come and she would disappear for good. It made her afraid and sorrowful: afraid because of what might happen if there were no Glinda Upland in Oz, and sorrowful because of reasons she knew she should not be having. She would be sorry to go because she had seen so much, experienced so much, and once her time came, all of that would be gone.

There was no knock on the door. She heard a noise at the window, which she never closed since it looked out only onto the swamp, and turned to see who was sneaking into the room of Glinda the Good. Her blue eyes exploded in shock as she saw the form she thought she would not be seeing for a good long time. It was the form of her master, her creator, the one who had brought her into being and gave her this commission.

"It's good to see me, isn't it?" the real Glinda Upland greeted.

* * *

**(AN: Very very vague first chapter, but I hope it catches your interest. Lots more exposition in the next chapter, so if you missed anything, don't worry.)  
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	2. Sharing Stories

**(AN: One chapter and already a review! [lol, thank you once again])  
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**(Here's the next chapter, with tons of references to the Oz-series books [which I don't own either]. Hope I can get it out soon, but I just got dumped with a ton of homework, so please be patient.)  
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* * *

**Sharing Stories**

"Not really," the red-haired Glinda replied. "And what are you doing here? Didn't I give you a way to reach me when you were ready to come home, or have you forgotten already?"

"I'm not even in my own house and you're already shouting me out the door," laughed Glinda Upland as she pulled herself up over the window sill and collapsed onto the terracotta floor.

"I'm sorry," the red-haired Glinda said. "I...I would help you up, but..."

"No, no, I'm not helpless," the real Glinda sighed. She then pushed herself up onto her own feet.

"Now, first things first," red-haired Glinda insisted. "What happened to that glass I gave you?"

"It broke," Glinda replied. "I appeared south of Kumbricia's Pass, and when I got up, I saw it was in pieces."

"That was foolish of you, to break that crystal," red-haired Glinda stated. "It was hard enough to conjure it, I'm not as powerful as you are, or Elphie for that matter. Those aren't exactly easy to come by, and I cast on it the most powerful Seeing Spell I could create. It's not perfect, not like Elphie's glass orb."

"Well, it couldn't be helped," Glinda replied.

For a moment, the two Glindas were now on their feet and slowly walking towards each other, eying each other with curiosity and quiet scrutiny. The real Glinda was about average height for a young woman of twenty-two. Her hips and bust had been bigger when she left Oz, but a year of nonstop travel and warfare, not to mention several weeks among the Swords without much food, had thinned her out somewhat. Her duplicate was taller, of course, and not as 'endowed' as the original. The most obvious difference, of course, was the hair color. While the original had golden locks, like liquid sunshine, the duplicate seemed to have a sea of blood rushing down her head. Maybe the duplicate's hair had a slightly gentler curl, but that was because she had been enjoying the 'lap of luxury' all the while the original was journeying in foreign lands. The two were now within hand's reach, almost nose to nose, but they did not touch.

The silence was suddenly broken by the original Glinda giggling to herself.

"What's so funny?" asked red-haired Glinda.

"I can't believe what came over me," the real Glinda said. "That possessed me to create a red-haired duplicate to keep the peace in Oz."

"You remember?" red-haired Glinda asked. "When last we spoke, you were as clueless as you were on the first day at Shiz."

"I've learned things," the real one replied. "When I came back to Oz..."

"Oh, by the way, how did you manage that?" red-haired Glinda took a step back, offering the original a seat. She then conjured up one for herself and sat across from...herself.

"Getting back here?" the real Glinda asked. "I don't know. The last thing I remembered was being on a mountain, I was...I was so sad and lonely about everything, and then..."

"Then what?" asked red-haired Glinda.

"Then I had this sudden thought," the real one continued. "That I had to be back in Oz, that this was where I needed to be. So I reached into the bag and found the Grimmerie." She removed her black cloak, draping it over the back of the chair, and deposited the ancient tome on the nearby table.

"You can read it now?" red-haired Glinda queried.

"Not hardly," laughed the real Glinda. "But there are moments when I can catch a word here and there. I've memorized certain spells, and I was able to find the right spell. I'm still not sure how I picked the right time and place, we've had so many accidents before, I thought I'd end up someplace else entirely." She sighed. "Now, tell me about Oz. What's changed since I left? Everything seems in order."

"Only here," red-haired Glinda began. "You were gone for longer than you thought. I should have been sent back sooner: six months had passed since you left."

"Six months?" Glinda exclaimed.

"Yes," red-haired Glinda replied. "The night you entered the Time Dragon Clock, following the Voice, must have been late May to early June, in what would have been the Twenty-Fourth Year of the Wizard. I arrived back here in December, just a few days before Lurlinemas."

"Lurlinemas?" the real Glinda mused aloud. "I remember Gandalf said it was the 8th of January when I arrived on the hillside in Hollin, that was when I met Elphaba and Fiyero again. Sweet Oz, all this time travel is giving me a headache!"

"You've got that right," red-haired Glinda said.

"What's the date? Today!"

"Uh, first of November in the Twenty-Fifth Year of the Wizard, that is, if the Wizard were still here. He's gone."

"Yeah, I know that. And you're here. Wait, who's in..."

"I wish I could say I was," red-haired Glinda began. "But everything went sour when I came back. This Munchkinlander came from the East, claiming to be the last child of Melena Thropp, and said the Scarecrow had returned. Well, since the Wizard had appointed the Scarecrow his successor, no one questioned the Munchkinlander's appointment as the Scarecrow's adviser when the Tin Woodsman disappeared."

"Oh, yeah," the real Glinda nodded, remembering Boq's story from when they met in the desert. "Wait, what about the Lion?"

"He bolted once Shell lost power."

"Shell? Who's Shell?"

"The Munchkinlander, the one who calls himself the last son of the Eminent Thropp. Anyway, this Gilikinese girl named Jinjur started a revolt and took the Emerald City. Now most of greater Oz is in chaos: there's no law or order, and anyone who's rich or influential is killed without trial, just for being wealthy."

"That's terrible!"

"From what I heard, Jinjur was ousted and now anarchy and terror rule the North lands. I escaped when they started making death threats against me, for my ties to the Arduenna clan."

"Wait, where's Momsy and Popsicle?" Glinda exclaimed, fear and concern in her voice. "They're not..."

"No," red-haired Glinda sighed. "I've been organizing a resistance movement in the Vinkus: it's mostly those influential families who've survived, plus most of the Animals. It seems people still don't trust them, and without a law in Oz, they get killed almost on sight."

"Oh no!" sighed the real Glinda. "B-But this is Oz! Something this bad couldn't happen here, not in Oz."

"I wish it were so," red-haired Glinda replied. "But it's not safe in Oz anymore, not for anyone who's anyone of importance, and most certainly not for Elphaba."

"Elphaba..." sighed the real Glinda, hanging her head. "Oh, I wish I you hadn't mentioned her name."

"What's wrong?" the other one asked. "The last time I remember..."

"Elphaba's dead," the real Glinda said, her voice breaking in sorrow. "She...she was betrayed by the Witch."

"You're lying," red-haired Glinda said seriously. "I can always tell when you're lying. Remember, I'm you. A magical duplicate of you, but I know everything about you: I was, after all, made from you _by_ you."

Glinda sighed, bowing her head in sorrow. "_I_ killed her," she said at last. "I couldn't save her. I tried, but she was going to kill me. There wasn't anything I could do."

Red-haired Glinda bowed her head in sorrow. "If only she hadn't encountered the Nameless Enemy in ancient Oz. That was the reason, wasn't it? You remember now, why you made me, and the others. You were going to stay in Worms, to make your own future. You created us to do your bidding: I was to come back here and tend to Oz, while the blond one, the one who looked just like you, went with Elphaba, to keep them safe. There was a third, do you remember? She had dark hair, what was her purpose? I only guessed the purpose of the blond one because she spoke to me in my dreams. But we never heard from the dark-haired one: why did you make..."

"How can this help my problem?" the real Glinda sighed. "I just need to go back to Kiamo Ko and burn these..." She held up the broom, then placed the hat on the bed with the broom, then pointed to the cloak. "I never would have worn anything so hideocious for any other reason."

"Burn them?" red-haired Glinda asked.

"The more I look at them," the real Glinda said, with tears in her big, blue eyes. "The sadder I get: all I see in them is Elphaba. She's gone, beyond recall, and I need to bury every memory of her as well, or I'll be trapped in a past filled with regret."

"You've changed," red-haired Glinda mused aloud. "You never did anything so serious before."

"I grew up," mused the real Glinda grimly. "But I still..." She suddenly sniffed the air, making a face at what she smelt. Lifting up her armpit, she sniffed again, then groaned. "Ugh, there isn't any chance that you could draw a bath for me?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask," the red-haired duplicate said, wriggling her nose. "I'll have the servants get you a bath."

"Thank you," sighed the real Glinda happily.

* * *

Glinda took a good long bath, a proper bath, as she hadn't had in a year or more, with soap and water and bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles. She spent a lot of time in the bathtub, singing and waving her long, soap-covered legs about gaily, glad to be clean again. When she was done, a Quadling servant girl brought her a towel which she wrapped around her body. Even though she was a year out of practice, she went straight for the mirror and started brushing out her long, golden locks. Once her hair was brushed and looking as curly and bouncy as before, she was given her clothes: a fresh, clean chemise of white and her beautiful blue bubble gown, the one she wore on special occasions, complete with a tiara and her snowflake-tipped wand.

_Oh my Oz, I'm back!_ she squealed inside.

When she was done, the servants led her into a large dining room, prepared with food for her and for her counterpart, who sat at the farthest end. Once she sat down, the red-haired Glinda led them in a simple blessing of the food to Lurline. The real Glinda was reminded of her days as a little girl in the Upper Uplands, when she was taught such. It had been so long since she had done thus, because she had more or less given up on fairies and goddesses once she grew up, became a high society socialite and went to Shiz.

"That was peculiar," she mused, once they were done.

"Hmm?" red-haired Glinda asked.

"That prayer," the blond one stated. "I mean, Elphaba didn't believe in anything, I don't know what Fifi believes in, probably life is a party so keep on dancing, and I...well, I've seen quite a bit, really. I remember Gandalf said something about a Queen of the Stars, but didn't know that people called her Lurline, so I guess she could be real. And if she's real, why can't the other gods and goddesses be real?"

"That's a funny thought," the red-haired Glinda stated. "Although, I guess it has merit."

"But why did you insist we ask Lurline to bless the food?" the real Glinda asked. "I haven't done that in Oz knows how long."

"Ever since order broke down in Oz," red-haired Glinda began. "People look to the heavens for safety, when all human powers fail them. I'm not much of a help, since magic users are as hated as wealthy in greater Oz: there's a price on my head from the Quadling Kells to the Glikkus."

"Is Quadling safe?" the real Glinda asked.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I've done my best, but the people here are peace-loving. They have beliefs of their own, the Quadlings, they're very spiritual. I guess being among them has renewed in me interest in Lurline. But enough of this, go ahead and eat."

The real Glinda didn't have to be told twice. She had such a hunger that it could even satisfy the appetite of the Hungry Tiger. Without the consideration to her weight she had had as far back as she could remember, she ate whatever was within arm's reach: hot soups, warm bread fresh out of the ovens, roasted pheasant, cornbread made from blue corn from Munchkinland, and many other things besides.

After they had eaten to their fill, a servant brought about a bottle of wine, which was poured for both of them.

"Where did this come from?" the real Glinda asked, looking at the dark violet wine in her silver chalice.

"Outside of Oz," red-haired Glinda replied.

"Thank you," the real one returned. "But I can't have too much."

"Oh, I know," Glinda of the red hair answered. "I remember what happened that night at Edoras. Ugh! What a pounding headache I had after having too much."

"_I_ had the headache!" the real Glinda contested. "You weren't there."

They sighed one after the other, but while the red-haired Glinda drank from her chalice, the head of the real one nodded.

"Are you tired?"

"Yes," the real Glinda said. "I-I don't know how, but I've been very tired and depressed ever since...since..."

"Since you cast the spell that created me and the others," the red-haired one finished. "It's been happening with me: lethargy, weariness, depression."

"How do you know?" the real one asked.

"I might not have the Grimmerie," the red-haired one began. "But I have learned other ways of magic. That kind of spell work is impossibly hard, and there are serious, sometimes long-lasting, side effects. You are literally splitting yourself in two: everything about you gets split in two, you're not whole anymore. Your emotions, your personality, your health, everything gets affected. But you, you didn't just split yourself in two, you split yourself in _four!_ You were shattered into four pieces, but each one is only a fourth of you. That's why you're so weak and sad all the time: you're not in control of yourself anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"You're in four pieces, Glinda," the red-haired one began. "You knew that when you made us. You sent the best part of yourself to stay with Elphaba, the one that would sacrifice herself in the end to save her, and she did, and now she's safe back inside you. I'm your protective self, the part you never believed you had: the part capable of caring and nurturing for others, for maintaining life. You're all that's left, and you're incredibly weak. Only the re-assimilation of the selfless Glinda made you a bit more stable."

"You-you said _four_," the real Glinda said fearfully.

"The fourth one, the brunette one, you sent to explore the worlds," red-haired Glinda answered. "But she's the survivor part of you, the ruthless, selfish part of you. But she doesn't have the desire to heal others, like me, or the undying loyalty of the other, or the restraint that you've had. There's no telling what she will do, once her power starts to grow."

"Oh, sweet Oz!" the real Glinda sighed, placing her hand on her head.

"If you're tired, I can let you rest," red-haired Glinda said. "I'll have a bed prepared for you, you can rest up and be ready to go about your business in the morning."

"Thank you," blond Glinda sighed again. "It's just been a very horrible month or so. Rest is what I need."

The red-haired Glinda told her servants to set up a room for her guest. The real Glinda thanked her and followed the servants to the room, where she threw herself, fully dressed, onto the bed and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

**(AN: So many stories, so many updates, but you get one here. Lots get explained, hopefully you've waited long enough to see that answer.)**

**(So I guess you know what's up now, and that's why I've got to continue. No matter how this story ends up, there can only be one Glinda and she's not brunette. I've been wondering what she, brunette Glinda, should look like [visual reference, and such]. I had Rachel Weisz and Katie McGrath in mind initially [mostly Weisz because she will be in the upcoming movie _Oz: the Great and Powerful_], but, since Glinda's visual reference is Megan Hilty, I also am considering Lana Parrilla. Any thoughts?)  
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	3. Out of Quadling

**(AN: New chapter [once again, please review], with several cameos from characters from _both_ books.)  
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* * *

**Out of Quadling  
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When Glinda awoke, she found that she was wearing a pale pink nightgown. There was a knock at the door. She rose up from the bed, slowly crossing the floor, and opened the door to see who it was. A little maid stood there, with the bubble dress, which was too large for her to carry on her own, standing there.

"Good morning, your Goodness," the girl said in a cheerful voice. "My name is Jellia Jamb. The Lady Glinda told me to give you your clothes once they were washed, dried, pressed and ready."

"Wait, I remember you!" Glinda suddenly said. "You were at the Emerald City. What are you doing out here?"

"Lady Glinda saved a lot of us from what happened," the little girl replied. "She brought us down to the swamps, where no one from Gilikin or Munchkinland ever came. We're safe down here, for the moment."

Glinda thanked the little girl, then dismissed her and got herself into her bubble dress. With the wand and her tiara in both hands, and new walking boots on her feet, she made her way to the bedroom into which she had fallen yesterday. She knocked on the door and the red-haired Glinda opened it up for her. However, once she saw who it was, she took a step back.

"Glinda!" the red-haired one exclaimed. "You got ready fast."

"I learned to get dressed quickly," the real Glinda answered. "I could always get into my dresses by myself. Although, I don't think I'd be able to get far. This dress is a bit cumbersome."

"I had your dress modified," red-haired Glinda. She rang a bell and Jellia Jamb appeared: red-haired Glinda told her to help the other Glinda with her dress. The huge skirt and the corset were removed, leaving a smaller, closer one-piece dress of pale sky blue with a slash in the skirt.

"It's like the travel dress you wore in Middle Earth," red-haired Glinda said. "I know, I wasn't there, but I remember everything you did up until you cast the spell that created me. All your memories are also mine, that's why I remembered that and Edoras."

"I see," Glinda the blond stated, examining the dress. "Well, it definitely shows off my curves, what curves I have left. I've lost a lot of weight since I left Oz."

"So, where will you go, once you leave the Quadling marshes?" asked red-haired Glinda.

"I don't know," the real Glinda sighed. "I mean, part of me thinks Kiamo Ko is the best place to go, but I don't know. Is there anywhere safe in Oz anymore?"

"Hardly," red-haired Glinda replied. "Munchkinland and Gilikin are in chaos, and the Emerald City is right in the center of it all. The Vinkus and Quadling really are the last two safe places in Oz."

"Then why choose here?"

"The Vinkus is quite large!" exclaimed red-haired Glinda. "I mean, one can easily get lost there."

"That's where I need to go," the real Glinda said. "If I mean to bury Elphaba's memory, it should be in the west, the place that she called home." She sighed. "Thank you, for all your hospitality." She held out her hand, but noticed that red-haired Glinda did not take it. In fact, she looked utterly horrified, as if she had at last come to something which she had been dreading ever since the real Glinda appeared.

"Do you want this?" she asked at last. "Is this what you want...already?"

"What do you mean?" chuckled the real Glinda in disbelief. "It's only a handshake."

"But that's more than what it seems," red-haired Glinda wailed. "Just a touch from you and it's all over for me."

"Over?"

"Yes, over! I'll cease to exist. The two of us can stand in the same area, but we can never come in contact with ourselves...unless my time is done."

"What do you mean?"

"That was our purpose, remember? You made me to stay here, to look after Oz, and if you should ever return, that we'd finally touch hands and it would be over for me. Is that it, now? Is it time for me to die?"

"What? No!"

"Please! I don't want to go!"

"I'm sorry," Glinda replied, lowering her hand. "I should have remembered that." She then walked to her room, picking up the broom, the Grimmerie and the cloak. The hat, Oz only knew where it was located. As she walked out, she saw that the red-haired Glinda was holding a bag out for her.

"Here, to carry your things," red-haired Glinda said. "I know it looks rather small, but it's actually quite larger on the inside."

"Thank you again." blond Glinda thanked. "I only wish I could repay you for the kindness you've shown me."

"Letting me live," quailed the red-haired duplicate. "Is payment enough."

Instead of hugging, they bowed to each other, then red-haired Glinda gave the real Glinda over to the keeping of Jellia Jamb, who would guide her out of the marshes and to the gap of the Lesser Kells and the Quadling Kells. She led Glinda first to a dock on the floating palace, where there rested a river barge. Glinda sat upon the barge next to Jellia while a Quadling lad pushed the barge pole along, guiding them across the watery marshes. For about an hour, all the sounds about they saw were the marshes and all they heard were the warbling sounds of the swamp-creatures.

"Your Goodness..."

"Please, call me 'Glinda'," Glinda dismissed. "I'm not good."

"But you are," Jellia said. "You were always nice to me whenever you visited the City of Emeralds. And, while I don't understand your whole history with this Elphaba person, I trust that you have good intentions."

"I don't want to be good for no reason, like I was before," Glinda said. "I want to earn my name, as I said that day when the Witch died..." She looked off into the swamp, muttering more to herself than anyone else: "When the Witch died."

"Anyway, Glinda, may I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What do you think happens to Ozians when they die?"

"What a horribly morbidary thing to think about!" Glinda exclaimed, although it was entirely show. She herself thought often of death, having come so close to it herself.

"I'm sorry," Jellia apologized. "It's just that we're exposed to it daily, I sometimes wonder if anything happens after death."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know," Jellia admitted. "Some people think that there is nothing, that we just rot away into nothingness. Others think that the spirits of the dead haunt the lands in the North. They call them Ozmists. They wait to pass on, since, well, you know the stories about the Ozma."

"Yes," Glinda nodded. Ozma was the ruler of Oz, declared to be the daughter of Lurline. While there was an Ozma on the throne of Oz, no one would die or get seriously ill. Unfortunately, there had been no Ozma in Oz for almost twenty-five years. Death, therefore, was something that people became much more accustomed to in the meantime.

"They say that the Ozmists roam about aimlessly, always asking the same question: 'Has Ozma returned to Oz?' They say that, when Ozma returns, she'll bring joy and happiness back to Oz and the Ozmists will be at peace."

"That still doesn't answer your question," Glinda said.

"I don't know," Jellia sighed. "Maybe there _is_ no right answer. I mean, no one's ever come back from death, so we don't know what it's like, after all."

"Well, _one_ person did," Glinda began, remembering something she had heard a long time ago. "I...I don't remember everything he said, but there was something like a gray rain curtain turning to silver and glass, and then it was rolled away and there were...white shores, and-and a...a far green country, or...I don't know. It sounded better when he said it."

"I like that," Jellia smiled. "But still, I don't think the Ozmists have ever been to any far green country. Not while there's no Ozma in Oz. Or maybe the rules are different for them. Maybe, for them, they are in a kind of unrest, where they can't achieve whatever it is that awaits them until the end."

"You think?"

"Maybe," Jellia stated. "Maybe that's all death really is, then. A kind of sleep, waiting for whatever it is that happens in the end."

"You don't think the dead go someplace once they die?"

"I don't know. Maybe it hasn't happened yet, their reward, so they have no place to go, they just...wander. Like the Ozmists."

Glinda was silent afterwards. She had not seen the specters of the dead that haunted the Tower of Sorcery, though she walked its poisoned meads and came within sight of the cursed walls. Even against the Cursed Sword, all that she had fought were things, corrupted or otherwise, that were of the living. The thought of facing the dead, that which, being dead, cannot be killed, was not something Glinda relished. She had never really considered death, for that was far too sad a topic for her to even consider, much less think about as frequently as other people might have done. She didn't want to believe the Ozmists were real, that would be too horrific.

* * *

When their hour was spent, the little barge came to a dock somewhere far away from the floating palace. Glinda disembarked, carrying her things in the magically-enhanced bag that her duplicate had made for her. As she was getting ready to leave, little Jellia Jamb hopped out of the barge as well and smiled at Glinda.

"We still have some miles to go," she said. "Let's go." Then she set off at a good pace, with Glinda following on behind as she could.

"Where exactly are we?" Glinda asked. She had seen the marshes as her duplicate, but the memories had not fully synchronized and everything was still very hazy.

"Just south of the pass, and the border between Quadling and the Vinkus," she replied. "Once we reach the pass, you're on your own."

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm still in the employee of Glinda," Jellia looked back. "I mean, the other one. Besides, it's not safe to go beyond the borders of this land."

They walked on in silence for the next half of the journey. The swamp seemed strangely dead, even with marsh-creatures warbling beneath the surface of the pools all about them. The wind was not howling and the branches of the swamp trees lay dead and mirthless, mocking the verdant greenness of the marshes. It was said that since the Elements were subdued by the Three Adepts, Oz never had any severe weather: no harsh heat in the summer and no freezing snows in the winter. Yet the overall grimness of the land made Glinda wonder if this was what autumn was like, when life began to slow down and prepare for the long cold.

_Elphie must have been terrified, seeing all of this_, she wondered, remembering that her counterpart had gone with her into a much savager Oz.

Slowly but surely, the warm atmosphere of the marshes gave way and the air became frighteningly cold. The ground also became harder and, before their eyes, the tops of the Kells poked their heads above the slowly dwindling swamp trees. For one brief moment, she feared that the sounds of the wild Hammerheads would be heard, cackling madly in the hills before them. But even the predatory beasts with long necks were deathly silent in this part of the year.

By the time they had at last reached the pass, none of them believed that it could actually be November, or that this was Oz. In the distance, as she had seen it before, when she arrived on the hilltop at Kumbricia's Pass, she could see the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City, the one snaking down along the right and the other a faint glimmer on the horizon to the left. But all was quiet and still, the vibrant greens more restrained and sullen.

"Here's where we part ways, Your G...I mean, Glinda," Jellia stated.

"Thank you for going with me as far as you did," Glinda replied.

"My pleasure," the little girl bowed. "I hope to see you again, in happier times."

"If happiness is possible after all that's happened," Glinda stated. "I shall return, and you will see me again."

"Ozspeed, Glinda."

"Ozspeed, Jelly."

"'Jelly?'"

"Oh, is it alright if I call you 'Jelly?'" Glinda said with a tiny giggle.

"It's a little perky. I like it! Why yes, of course you may."

They laughed and then Jellia "Jelly" Jamb turned her back and walked back towards the marshes. Glinda sighed: she saw in that little girl all of the innocence and silliness that had once possessed her. She knew that 'Jelly' was being forced to grow up fast by what was happening in Oz. She felt drawn out to this little girl, with the knowledge that there must be other children about Oz, experiencing the same things, if not worse. She wanted to help them, to help all of them, if only she could.

But she hardened her heart, and turned northward, towards the Great Kells and her final task.

* * *

**(AN: Decided to cut the chapter short. I had a series of brainstorm sessions and have now got something of a story for this one as well as the next one, so I'm gonna try to get as much done as quickly as possible.)**


	4. Kiamo Ko Again

**(AN: Yes, dear _ComingAndGoingByBubble_, that shall be important in the story [maybe not this one, but later on].)  
**

**(Lol, I seem to be making a habit of coming up with a title for a chapter, not using it, then using it in the next chapter. [PS - I don't own _Soul Calibur_ either, or anything from the previous cross-overs in this series to which I might make reference].)  
**

* * *

**Kiamo Ko Again  
**

After leaving the swamps, Glinda made her way along the eastern side of the Great Kells, with the Vinkus River as a border. While she had been of little help out of Oz, she had learned at least a superficial knowledge of Oz's political geography. She knew that the Vinkus River would lead her, by and by, to the walls of Kiamo Ko, which was where she had intended to go. At the very most, it would take at least three or four days to arrive there on foot if she walked all day with no rests. She did not relish the thought of walking all day without any resting, especially all alone. But that could not be helped: Elphaba was gone and Fiyero and the others were in Maaptia (wherever that was, she had no idea).

At last, however, she became too tired to continue and rested on the edge of the foothills of the Great Kells. She had intended to rest very briefly and move on once she had caught her breath, but while she was resting, she removed the magically enlarged bag to inspect the tokens of her long lost friend. While she was rummaging through the bag, her hand came to rest on several things wrapped in smaller sacks of cloth. Taking them out, she saw that the red-haired Glinda had secretly packed into her bag food fit for a long journey on foot.

"Thank you, Glinda!" she said, then giggled by how silly that sounded.

There were salted meats, dried fruit and cheese and bread that would stay good for many days, and a small bottle of water. At first, hunger moved her to eat until she was full. But she remembered Xiba and how frequently they had run out of food by him eating it all at once. Therefore she ate only a little, and then the food was back in its pack. As she hefted it back onto her shoulders, she realized just how light it felt. It didn't feel as though it had a broom, a cloak and a very heavy book as well as the food.

But good food and rest could not change the fact that Glinda was still alone and missed her friends, all of whom were gone far beyond her reach. And her days, brought down already by their absence, was made worse by her own weariness and the grimness of a land in an autumn worse than any before. Whatever had brought this, she could not guess, but she feared that it might have something to do with what had happened in Oz lately. It made her sad, that her home, her beloved Oz, was becoming less and less...

_Colorful_.

At night, she slept curled up in Elphaba's cloak. Not out of choice, for just being near it, smelling the scent of bluesap oil, Elphaba's favorite washing oil, made her all the more sad to be so close to something of Elphaba's. She cried herself to sleep, wondering if she could ever find happiness, or peace at least, when all this was done. How could she find peace after she had seen so much bloodshed and destruction, when she had lost someone so close to her. Her dreams were filled with every dark, scary and terrible thing she had ever experienced since her path had crossed that of Elphaba Thropp, and she woke all shivering, covered in a cold sweat. Using the fire-spell, she created a small tongue of flame which hovered just a few feet above the ground which lasted all night: just why she did it, however, she had not the heart or words to articulate.

* * *

When the morning came, she was sleepy, achy and sore beyond belief. She longed to stay in bed, as mediocre as the patch of matted ground was that had served as her bed, and simply rest until she finally forgot about everything horrible that had ever happened to her. But that was not an option, not now and not here. She forced herself to wake, eating very frugally of what food she had before assaying herself once more to her journey, the horrible task which she had before her.

This day was very similar to the day before, with nothing but a grim solemnity fallen across the land. Already she could see the tops of the Great Kells looming on the edge of the western sky, her target growing ever closer. Soon it would all be over and then...where after that? She had no thought for the future, just as the others had when they had made their plans. _Is this how it shall always be,_ she wondered. _That we make plans with __no care or concern for what might happen, and then all our plans go to phooey?_ But it didn't solve her problem: where would she go when this was all over? Back to Maaptia in disgrace, telling them that she had failed, that Elphaba had died in dishonor? No, that would destroy her memory worse than any lie the Wizard or Madam Morrible ever could have weaved. Wander Oz, just let life take her away, like a leaf caught up in a gale? No, for she knew that Oz was in trouble and she would be betraying Elphaba's memory if she did nothing.

For one moment, she considered a third option, one that was even more tempting than all the others, and that was to give up. She could do it. When she came to Kiamo Ko, sitting there, with the last mementos of Elphaba Thropp burning before her, she could do it quickly or slowly. Slowly in that she could just sit there, lying at their first and last parting place, and wait for the end, or quickly in that she could join the mementos in the flames. But that served no one and nothing, only her own pain. If she did that, those in Maaptia would never know what happened and those in Oz would live and die in a world that was neither wonderful nor safe. She could not choose her own satisfaction, not now.

_That's what _she_ did, _Glinda thought, tears flowing down her eyes as she came to that realization. _In the end._

At night, she created the fire again, but this time she knew why. The weather was cold and she shivered next to it, covering herself in Elphaba's cloak. She did not dream, though she thought she guessed that she saw once again the visions of her counterpart in this land.

* * *

By the third day, after a mirthless awakening and a meager breakfast, she turned once more her back to the rising sun. Now her journey became even more arduous, for she would be walking into the foothills of the Great Kells. She had left the river and soon would meet it again. One more crossing at a ford, which she had seen once or twice when flying over this land by bubble many years ago, and then follow the river straight to the door of the castle. Then, it would all be over.

It was about three in the afternoon on the third day when she saw the tops of the towers of Kiamo Ko, unique in its architecture in that its roofs were not domed like the rest of the buildings in Oz. Thither she went with all haste, despite her groaning joints, her aching back, the hunger in her body and the weariness upon her spirit. She had to make it to the gates, she just _had_ to. Up the tall sides of the mountain she went, sometimes on her feet, other times crawling on her hands and knees, until at last she came to Kiamo Ko.

_Well, Glinda,_ she said to herself, as she eyed the castle, standing black against the sandy-golden of the mountains. _You've made it this far. Now for the final stretch, then it will all be over...in the end..._

By this time in the year, even four in the afternoon was late, for the sun would set by seven, and it had taken her at least an hour climbing the mountain-sides to reach this place. Whatever betide, she could go no further once the sun set beyond the flat desert lands of the far Vinkus, the Badlands. Instead, she turned towards the castle. The gate was open and she walked through the door, trying hard not to remember all that was flooding back to her as she walked through.

She saw the walls, the horse-shoe that wrung in the courtyard of the castle just beyond the gate. Upon those parapets she had chased after Elphaba, trying in vain to talk her out of vengeance and into giving up her fight. After all, they _were_ just shoes. She never really understood why they had been so blasted important. On the edge of the western wall, facing the setting sun, she had said her last goodbyes. Now she was climbing up a flight of stairs, so that she would get up to the level of the wall. Perilously close came she to the East Tower, where she knew Elphaba had spent her days looking out across Oz. Whether she sought out the oppressed Animals to offer them aid, or whether she spied on the workings of the Wizard, or whether her eyes were turned towards Munchkinland in concern for her sister Nessa, Glinda could not rightly guess. She went not into the East Tower, for she knew she could not leave once done. She would search it for something, anything, that would help her feel that she had achieved some sort of closure. Instead, she walked the length of the castle wall to the one place she dreaded going, her final destination on this journey of doom.

The North Tower, where Dorothy and her companions had been trapped by the castle guards, Vinkans "loyal" more or less to Elphaba. Here it had happened. She had seen it all from a side of the castle wall, where part of the keep came close to the north-western wall, opposite her current position. There the lights of the North Tower had danced upon the wall in that close corridor, there she had seen the last stand of the Wicked Witch of the West, and there, upon the floor of that dirty, musty old tower, she herself had collapsed in utter defeat, bewailing the loss of her beloved Elphaba, the one whose murder, though not as straight-forwardly orchestrated as with Nessa, she had nevertheless played an important role in its architecture.

Glinda knelt down at the spot once again, with head bowed in sorrow. She placed the bag on the floor, refusing to move the contents. She had decided at last: there would be no return journey. She got up to her feet, and held out her hands. Just one word more and the contents would burst into flames. She knew what would happen if she got too close: she knew it would be slow and very painful, but nothing, she dared, would be more painful than living with the pain in her heart.

Her hands were quivering as they loomed over the bag. She knew the word, she had used it many times to start fires for her fellows while camping on the hunt for the Sword, when flint and tinder had failed them. She knew it so well, she deemed that she could say it in her sleep: and she had, all the while during her trek through the swamp and her hopeless walk across Oz. She spoke the spell over so much that, when the time came, she would be certain that she could cast it and be done with this. And here she was, brought to the moment, and she could not speak that one, simple word.

_She's gone,_ she told herself. _I _have _to do this.__ But...I can't do this! I...I don't know, it feels like I shouldn't do this. But I have no choice, if I don't, her memory will haunt me forever. But I can't burn these..._

"_**Why?!**_" she screamed out into the emptiness of the tower. "_**She's dead! There's no coming back, I **_**have**_** to do this!**_"

With tears in her eyes, she turned once more to her task, hands held out over the sack that held Elphaba's belongings: the broom, the cloak and the Grimmerie. But once again, she could not force herself to cast the fire spell. Something at the back of her mind was telling her that this was wrong, that she could not destroy them, not now.

_Oh, why do I have all of this doubt?_ she said to herself, weeping outwardly. _She's dead, I saw it happen, I _caused_ it to happen. This needs to be done. But what if I'm wrong? But I can't be wrong, I saw her die __right in front of my very eyes. Still, how do you know she's dead? Oh, if anyone should know, then I should.__..I mean, I killed her, so I _should_ know, shouldn't I?_

Into her mind came the memories of her talk with Jellia Jamb and of death and the afterlife. She had never believed any of this, hell, she had never even thought of this before. Death was something no one talked about, especially someone like Galinda Upland, who had such a love for life that she would not even think of death. But now she, Glinda the "Good", _had_ to think about death, if only to end this nagging feeling of everything being incomplete.

_Find the Ozmists?_ she asked herself. _Spirits of the dead, haunting the north-west, near Ugabu. Perhaps I could find Elphie's spirit among them, and find some kind of closure. But where can I find them?_

* * *

Morning found Glinda curled up in the keep of Kiamo Ko, which had once belonged to Fiyero's family and yet had rarely been used. She had raided the wood-shed and found some old fagots that were still dry and useable and with the fire spell, which she could now cast just as well as before she came here, she had made a roaring fire in the hearth and had at least one warm night after so long in the cold and weather. It was enough, just to keep out the cold and the sorrow for the night. Yet she was still sore when she woke up, and still alone, and the days were getting colder.

She removed Elphaba's cloak from the bag, wrapped it around her shoulders, then took up the bag once again and prepared to leave the castle. Where she would go, she did not know. All she could guess was that it would be somewhere in the north. But she would go, and that was all she had to go on, that she had to leave and head north, even if that was into the heart of chaos.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Glinda rose to her feet, one hand ready to do something to defend herself, though she didn't really know why. Slowly she ran to the door, ready to face whatever it was that had come.

"Who's there?" she said.

"An old woman and her servant," a voice called. "We're only passing by, could we come in out of the cold?"

Glinda lowered her hand, though she was still fearful. After all, as she had heard, Oz was not in the best of situations and she might just end up dead if she showed hospitality to the wrong person. Nevertheless, she came to the door and opened it up. Standing there was an old woman with gray hair and a faded violet dress that looked as though it had seen better days. With her was a young boy, thin and rather wimpy looking, even for one so young.

"Things are dangerous in Oz these days," the old woman stated. "Kindness can often lead to death, Glinda."

"You know my name?" the young blond asked suspiciously.

"Of course I know your name!" scoffed the old woman. "Your face is on every street corner in Gilikin! You're about as wanted as anyone in Oz."

"Thank you for letting us stay here," the little boy said.

"You're very welcome," Glinda replied.

"Don't listen to him," the old woman said, cuffing the boy on the back of his head. "He's a chronic idiot."

"Um, I have some food, if you'd like to have some."

"Never take anything from a stranger," the old woman replied. "It could be poisoned."

"I'd like something," the boy said, walking towards Glinda. When he was nigh, he whispered. "Don't listen to her, she's a mean old witch who keeps me locked up as her servant."

"How terrible!" Glinda pouted, as she rummaged through her bag for something to give to the young lad. "What do your mother and father say?"

"Don't have 'em."

"Any other family?"

"Old Mombi's the old family I have," the boy replied, as Glinda handed him a loaf of bread and some cheese.

"Yes, give _him_ the poisoned food," grumbled the old woman. "Then leave an old woman to do all of her chores all by herself."

"Is she always like that?"

"All the time."

Glinda let the boy eat, then brought the bag over to the old woman and offered her anything. But she was staunch in her distrust of Glinda, even though she had opened up the castle door to them. So silence fell between the two of them for a lot of time.

"What brings you out here?" Glinda asked.

"Is this your castle? You sure do manage the place poorly."

"It's not mine," Glinda replied. "It's...someone else's."

"Well, the drawbridge was down and so I assumed no one was here," the old woman stated.

"Where did you say you were from?"

"What, is this an interrogation?" grumbled the old woman. "I'm over five hundred years old, haven't I earned a little bit of freedom from nagging and stupid questions?"

"I just thought I heard Gilikin," Glinda stated. "I'm from up there, as you've probably guessed by now."

"It's not safe to let on where you're from, or who you are, for that matter," the old woman stated. "You'll doubtless be joining the Ozmists before long with that kind of blind trust in everyone and everything."

Glinda's ears suddenly perked up. "The Ozmists?"

"Yeah, those ghosts wandering the Great Gilikin Forest," the old woman replied. "Oz, woman, what do they teach people these days!"

"You're saying they're..._real_?" she shivered even as the words were coming out of her mouth.

"As real as anything," the old woman said. "Anyway, I think you're crazy. Only someone with nothing to lose goes in search of the dead."

"Maybe I _have_ nothing to lose?"

"Come on, Tip!" ordered the old woman. "Help me to my feet, we're leaving. This girlie is crazier than a dodo!"

"Thank you for the food, lady," the child said as they made their way back out of the keep.

Glinda, meanwhile, looked after them as they left. Though she had no clue as to how she would get across the Lowlands of Gilikin to the Great Gilikin Forest, she now had someplace to go, another destination. She would be traveling alone, as before, but now she knew what she had to do. She didn't know why she had to go there, or even if it was all that important. Elphaba was dead, and yet Glinda knew that she had to go north, if this nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach were ever to come to an end.

* * *

**(AN: And as I said, I had originally used another name for this chapter, but changed it. Hopefully I'll have that title used in the next chapter.)**

**(Thank you once again, _ComingAndGoingByBubble_, for your dedicated reviews. Don't stop now, please [and, perhaps, while you're waiting for me to get more updates, read the other stories in the series :D]. It's just about to get interesting.)  
**


	5. Among the Ozmists

**(AN: This was originally the title of chapter 3, but ended up being for chapter 5. Hopefully we won't be stretching things out too much. Although, if I did, I'd certainly be able to take this story beyond ten chapters, which is my goal.)  
**

**(Lately, I've been reading up on other Oz-related stories, both from the Oz-series and spin-offs of _The Wizard of Oz_, so that I could get something of an idea of what to do, as far as the story goes. I think I can carry this through, though :D).  
**

* * *

**Among the Ozmists**

It was not until midday that Glinda finally set out from Kiamo Ko, her sights turned back to her native land of Gilikin. Her journey home would not be an easy one. After crossing the Vinkus River, there would be miles of open land, farmland mostly, but who knows what had become of those cottages and homesteads in the year she had been gone. Even if she were able to cross those lands safely, she would have to come dangerously close to civilization, whether by Shiz or by Dixxi House. If she survived that, then the forest lay directly before her after a day or two of walking.

But it was her best bet, especially if she wanted to finish her duty, whatever that was. It wasn't as though she had been told to go and do something by someone wise and powerful, like Gandalf. She had taken this task upon herself, and it seemed just as futile now as it had then. But that mattered not, for she had to find some answer for the nagging feeling within, and so she heaved the magically-enlarged bag onto her back and left the keep of Kiamo Ko. Once she was passed the drawbridge, she walked down the side of the hill, then looked back at the forlorn castle, sitting all alone in the mountains of the Vinkus. This had been where Elphaba had hidden during her last days on Oz.

_Maybe this is how it should be_, she reasoned. _She wanted to be alone, and now..._

But the feeling would not die, so she turned her gaze north-eastward and headed on down the mountains. All the way down, she tried to think about why these thoughts would not end. Elphaba was dead, she had seen it happen right before her eyes. Everyone knew that no one came back from death. If that were so, then Ozma would return to save Oz from whatever calamity had befallen it. Not that Glinda gave much thought to those fanatics who insisted that twenty-four years had been too long for Ozma to be in hiding and that she was surely dead, her infant body rotting in a ditch somewhere: morbidate and depressing, she called them. Regardless, she knew that there could be no coming back, not for the green witch or the Ozma, if she really were dead.

But in spite of all this, it would not leave her alone. It was like a little voice at the back of her head, telling her that there was more going on than she originally believed. She had to go to the Ozmists and see for herself. But see what? She didn't know. But the voice insisted that that was exactly it: go just to see, not for any strong or definite reason at all. She couldn't make sense of it all, her head started to ache...

Suddenly she found herself in the River. She thrashed about, trying to bring her head up to the faint light that was the surface, but she didn't know how to swim. No one in greater Oz knew how to swim, and that included Gilikin. The water was so cold, she couldn't feel her fingers anymore: it soaked through her entire being, and her clothes became heavier and heavier.

_Hold on, Elphie_, she thought, as it all started to grow dark. _I'll be there shortly..._

* * *

Glinda's eyes opened, and she found herself once again on dry land. She suddenly coughed and cold water spewed out of the corner of her lips. Rising up, she saw that she was indeed on dry land, more or less. But her clothes were still filthy and she was freezing. With both hands, she pushed herself up onto her feet, then began looking around to see where it was in Oz she had found herself.

To the right, she could see the Lowlands of Gilikin, green and violet stretching as far as she could see. To the left, the plains wound on again, with the Great Gilikin Forest as a tiny black smudge on the edge of the horizon. Behind her, she could see the stream or inlet, or whatever it was out of which she had washed up, that led back the way she had come, back to the Gilikin River, as she rightly guessed. Before her she saw the railroad leading onward towards Shiz.

_Well,_ she sighed. _I'm still here, and I don't think it would be a good idea to walk across the plains. I'm alone and I could be seen, and I wouldn't want that, especially if it's as bad as the other one said. I think I'll head towards the city: I can hide easier there than on the plains._

And so Glinda assayed herself to join the railroad and follow it down to Shiz. But she had not gone but three or seven steps from the shore of the river when she discovered something terrible: her bag was missing.

_Oh no!_ she lamented. _I must have dropped it in the river. There goes all my food, and all of Elphie's things._

She couldn't tell if she were crying, or if her face was already wet from the river.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

Her loss was soon driven from her mind as she came upon the railroad that led into Shiz. The rails had been torn and the heavy wooden beams were thrown about or missing. This, however, was only a taste of what she would see once she entered the town that had been her home during her university years.

The buildings were deserted, some with boards over their windows and many with broken windows all together. All the vines had died from ancient brick walls, and in their place, rude graffiti had been plastered upon them. Some of them included rude caricatures of the Wizard, Ozma, the Wicked Witch of the East and West or herself: all of them obscene in great extreme. The words under, around or in the lewd pictures were as profane or even worse, but even among the most tolerable, the message was still the same.

_Ozma is dead. The Wizard is dead. Glinda the Coward. Down with the Tyrants! Down with the B*tches! Long Live the Northern Queen! No Wizard, No Ozma, No Witches, No Lurline, No God, Oz is Free! Freedom or Death! Justice Through Anarchy!  
_

Away from the walls, however, Glinda saw that the university town of Shiz had been ransacked. The streets were deserted, filled with ruined and destroyed furniture, black scorch-marks on the pavement where great bonfires had been made. But worse than that, she also saw bodies lying on the streets, Animal and human, all of them beaten beyond recognition. Many had footprints all over them, as though they had been thrown down and trodden underfoot before at last being brutally beaten to death. Some of them also had been stripped, and rude marks cut into their flesh. She recognized words such as 'Loyalist', 'Lurlinist', 'Sorcerer', 'Unionist', 'Freak' and 'Traitor' carved into the flesh of the dead.

But when she saw Crage Hall standing behind the walls as a burned and blackened heap, her heart sank. All the memories she had had of her days at Dear Old Shiz were now gone, lying in ashes just a few feet beyond. Whatever had happened to Oz that had caused such chaos in such a hallowed place of learning? She did not have to spend much time wondering, for upon a lamppost near by, she saw several important looking papers on the wall.

One looked like a propaganda poster. She had seen many during the reign of the Wizard, and their goal was the same: get people to love your leaders no matter what they did. This one, however, showed her face, but it looked different. There was black hair instead of blond, and those eyes, no longer blue but brown, stared haughtily back at her. Beneath this image were written these words.

_Goddess of Freedom, She Saved Us from Lurline, Ozma, the Wizard, the Witches and the Unnamed God. Champion of Truth, may She live forever._

_Oh, Shiz_, the real Glinda thought. _What has she done?_

* * *

She made her way from the nightmarish Shiz as fast as she could. While she was standing at the lamppost, staring at the "Goddess of Freedom", the woman who bore her own face, she heard someone, or someones, pillaging through one of the destroyed buildings. Fearing what they might do to her - being a Witch, she obviously wasn't considered a friend anymore - she high-tailed it out of Shiz double-time. When at last she could run no more, she turned her eyes back to see if she had been followed. As far as she could tell, the plains outside of Shiz behind her were empty of pursuit.

Thus went Glinda Upland, sorceress, fugitive and friend to the end, into the darkness of the Great Gilikin Forest. Before her towered the great pines, tall in person even as they had been in the stories from her childhood. Deeper and deeper she went, into the forest, until the green-violet grass disappeared, replaced by the brown needles of the great trees that covered the ground. The trees above her head were so thick that she soon lost sight of the sun, now only a faint light behind her, fading fast through the thick tree-trunks.

It soon became so dark that Glinda became unaware of what time of day it really was: for all she knew, the day might have already gone on into night around her. But then again, she knew not how many days had passed since she fell in the river. Many days might already have passed, and she might already be upon the beginning of another night. But day was so quickly over these days that night might already have come indeed. Soon she found herself enshrouded in mist, as thick as any fog, that devoured the last of the light, leaving only a few floating specks of light dancing out in the mist. She wanted to run towards the lights, and yet she feared what would happen.

Suddenly, she became distinctly aware that she was not alone. She looked around and around, but she could see nothing but lights in the blanket of fog that fell all about her.

"Who's there?" she asked. "Wh-Who are you?"

The boughs of the trees were not shaking, but a chill wind swept through the glade, freezing Glinda to the bone. From out of the mist, there suddenly was heard a chorus of macabre voices. They all seemed haggard and forlorn, but also faint and distant, as though coming from the end of a long tunnel of stone.

"Death awaits those who disturb our wandering," the voices cried.

"Wait!" Glinda rose her hands up. "I come in peace. Please, don't hurt me! All I want is an answer."

"Only if you answer a question for us first," they replied.

"Okay, okay, I'll answer your question."

"Does the Ozma rule in Oz once again?"

"Uh, no," she replied.

"We cannot have rest until the Ozma sits once again upon the throne and ruler of Oz."

"Alright, alright," Glinda replied. "I answered your question, now answer mine and I'll leave you alone forever! Do you hear me?" Fear was in her voice, for the mist was gathering close about her and the sweat on her forehead was freezing.

"Ask." the Ozmists sighed.

"Elphaba Thropp is dead," she said, her voice breaking in sorrow. "Is she among you?"

For a moment, the voices were silent. Only the silence, think and foreboding, gripped the dark forest. Glinda feared that she had spoken amiss, and that something horrible would happen.

_Oh, if I ever get out of_ _here,_ thought Glinda._ I'll never come here again for as long as I live! I'll never seek the dead mists ever again!_

"Elphaba Thropp is not among us." hissed the voices among the mist.

"B-B-But she's dead!" Glinda cried. "I saw it happen, she died in my arms!"

"All things that die in Oz follow us in the end," the voices hissed.

"Are...are you saying that she's _not_ dead?"

"Elphaba Thropp is not among us." they said again.

The mists gathered close again, and Glinda's skin felt ashen cold. She no longer knew if day or night existed: all there was for miles around were the mists and the lights of the Ozmists among them. With a sudden cry of fear, she ran through the Mists, heedless of whatever might happen. She had to get away from this place, for her deed was done. Yet it made no sense anymore: how could Elphaba not be among the dead if she were dead? They did not answer clearly, only repeating the same thing they had said previously.

Glinda's mind grew numb, her limbs and eyelids heavy, and she collapsed, not knowing where she was or if she had survived the Ozmists. When the darkness overcame her at last, the only thing in her mind were the six words of the Ozmists...

_Elphaba Thropp is not among us._

* * *

**(AN: It's a decent length for this chapter, don't you think?)**

**(And I didn't have to belay the title of this chapter for another chapter, because it worked. Lots of stuff will happen soon, and you won't be sorry you read this [lol, talking about you, _ComingAndGoingByBubble_])  
**


	6. The Gates of Sheol

**(AN: Happy Thanksgiving, Ozians! Here's a treat for you! A re-appearance in this chapter, but there's also more abstraction, like with what we've seen so many times in the _Ozian Adventures_. But it's also what we've been waiting for so long in this chapter, and it's going to happen so soon. Wow, maybe I should re-name this story to something else, since it's going to be more than just the "Harrowing.")  
**

* * *

**The Gates of Sheol**

Slowly, Glinda's eyes opened once again. She found herself lying under a bridge, wrapped in a warm blanket. That was greatly appreciated, for the weather was hardly decent in Oz these days. But as her eyes adjusted, she saw that she was not alone. Standing there was a dark-skinned man in working man's clothes. She immediately recognized him.

"You!" she exclaimed groggily. "I remember you! Wha-What are you doing here?"

"I told you I sometimes step in to offer a hand," the Custodian said with a smile. "You looked like you needed one, after falling hazard of the Ozmists. It's not safe for the living to go searching for the dead."

"The dead," Glinda said sorrowfully. "So Elphaba's really dead, then?"

"Yes," the Custodian sighed.

"Then why did the Ozmists say that she wasn't among them?"

"Because she's not."

"Would you mind being a little less cryptified, please?"

"Certainly, all you gotta do is ask," the Custodian smiled. "Do you remember what happened when you learned that the Wizard was Elphaba's father?"

"Yeah, I..." she paused. "Wait, how did you know?"

"I know everything," he said. Glinda recognized his tone from how the Edgemaster had spoken about himself: no arrogance, no boasting, just statement of pure, undeniable truth.

"You do?" Glinda sighed. "Whoa, that's a big responsibility!"

"Yes, it is," continued the Custodian. "But what Madam Morrible said was true: Elphaba Thropp _is_ a child of both worlds. And as such, she doesn't belong among the dead of either world."

"What?" Glinda asked. "You mean there are Ozmists where the Wizard comes from?"

"No," the Custodian shook his head. "There, the dead go beyond."

"Beyond where?"

"Beyond all memory and reach," he continued. "There is a place in the Void called Sheol, where the dead lie in darkness until the appointed time. Your friend died on Earth, not Oz. If you would seek to save her, you must go through the gates of night and enter the land from where only one other person ever escaped."

"Who was that?" Glinda began, then suddenly a strange thought came to her mind. "Was it you?"

"Now you're gettin' it," he replied with a smile.

"Can you help me get there?"

When Glinda said this, the Custodian's smile vanished and he suddenly became grim and serious. Glinda feared that she had spoken ill, for already fear was building up inside her. What was this Sheol place, that was so awful that it darkened the face of even this mysteriously strong being?

"I have the power to send you to the other world," he replied at last, his voice grim and serious. and point you in the right direction to enter the Gates of Sheol, but I cannot let you go unless you answer me a question or two."

Glinda nodded, but said nothing else. The look in the Custodian's brown eyes, so profound - even more so than those of Gandalf or the Elves - held so much knowledge and sorrow. She felt ashamed even speaking, her own voice now seemingly pathetic and squeaky before something so ancient and mighty.

"Why do you wish to enter Sheol?"

"To save Elphaba," she said at last, slowly and hesitantly. "If what you say is true, that she doesn't belong in the land of the dead of one world or the other, then I have to save her."

"Why do you wish to save her?"

"B-Because she has friends and loved ones back east," she continued. "They miss her, and-and there's so much good that she has left to do, and-and she's a mother, and she can't just get rid of her child. And her life was stolen from her by some cheap trickster, and-and..."

"There's no shame in admitting the truth."

"I miss her, dammit!" she sobbed. "I...I can't save Oz without her!"

She was about to turn away, but the custodian placed his hand on her shoulder. Suddenly she felt warm and a little less foolish: to the contrary, she felt extremely humble.

"Those are good enough reasons in my book," he said with a smile. He then reached down and touched the ground. Where his finger touched, there grew a small pool of golden light, similar to that which had existed in the place between the worlds, where Glinda and the others had gone after their travails in Middle Earth.

Glinda knew what to do next. She reached down, cupped her hands together, and brought the cool, golden water up to her lips. Once it passed down her throat, her world started to grow dim and dark. But the silhouette of the Custodian was still there, and though all his features were gone, she could hear him speak to her these words:

"Good luck and be safe."

* * *

When Glinda awoke, she found herself on the side of a hill, where there stood the gaping maw of a cave. She was once again alone, but she now knew she had something to do. It gave her confidence, and steeled her nerves against whatever might happen inside the cave. She had no weapon, she had no armor, and she had no powerful friends at her side. But she knew that Elphaba was beyond, and that she had to save her: even if she died trying, she had to do something.

Into the darkness of the cave she walked, keeping one hand constantly reaching out to the walls of the cave, to keep herself steady in the dark. For a moment, she thought about casting a fire spell to give her light, but knew that wouldn't work. She didn't have the Grimmerie with her, and her magic was not such as Elphaba's, where she could tap into it without a medium such as a spell book. At last, however, there was no longer any light, just the cold, hard stone upon her fingertips and the uneven earth beneath her feet. It was so quiet that even her breath was loud and hoarse, like the roaring of some great beast.

With fear and trembling, she began to remember what happened with her duplicate, as she walked into the darkness of the cave in the Vinkus, onward towards her death. Once again, however, she heard the familiar words from a familiar voice speaking once again.

_You are Glinda Upland, the the bravest woman I know and the best friend I've ever had!_

Those words gave her resolve new strength, and she pushed onward, though there was no light before her to light her way. She walked on, until it seemed that she was going down an endless, steep and narrow stair that led into the center of the Earth. The walls suddenly gave way, and Glinda gasped as she reached out into the Void to find something, but her fingers grasped nothing. Before her was a sight beyond any horror she had ever seen in all of her travels. The world was dark, yet her eyes could faintly descry the shapes of bodies, lying about or piled on top of one another. There were so many, their bodies gave off a kind of cold, mirthless corpse light.

She looked above her head, and saw an even ghastlier sight, beyond all nightmares. A great white gateway passed over her head, though no walls could be seen on either side. The gate was made of bones and bodies, piled on top of each other, twisted and contorted, into a great archway of bodies and bones. On Glinda's side, empty skulls stared at her with their invisible eyes, declaring the doom that awaited her. Some skulls were human, while others were hideous, goat-like with horns.

Her heart stopped, but there was nothing else for it. Glinda Upland, having walked many miles into the Earth, passed through the gates of night, out of the earth and into the Void. Now she stood before the Gates of Sheol, and the pathway to the land of the dead.

* * *

**(AN: Thought I could do a longer chapter, but I'm running out of power on my laptop and this story needs a Thanksgiving update. You all have been such dedicated followers [namely, _ComingAndGoingByBubble_], I thought you deserved this. If anyone else is reading this and hasn't reviewed, please do so. Your reviews are always appreciated and chapters will come sooner if I know people are enjoying this story.)**

**(Now comes Glinda's finest hour, the time when she earns her name. [Note, she is not going into Hell, but it's just as dark and sorrowful: a place without life, where the dead lie until the end, a place of darkness and a void of life. She is, in fact, going into Sheol, the land of the dead. Imagine Davy Jones' Locker, but darker and a thousand times worse].)  
**


	7. Glinda's Finest Hour

**(AN: Here it is!)  
**

* * *

**Glinda's Finest Hour**

In the land of the dead, Glinda Upland forgot all memory of light, of beauty, of happiness and of joy. Instead of light there was darkness, instead of beauty, happiness and joy, there was sorrow, hideousness and death. Beyond the Gates of Sheol lay only blackness, grimly illuminated by piles of the dead, which gave off a sickly light. But they were all pale, and she knew what she sought. Therefore she made her way through the bodies of the dead, careful not to touch them. Even to look upon them chilled her to the core. But look she must, or else she might miss something, some greenish glimmer of corpse light among all the bodies of the dead.

Time no longer existed, and she moved among the bodies for what seemed like an eternity. It seemed utterly futile, now that she had come here, beyond all nightmares and horrors she could imagine. For every time she would scan one ghastly pile of corpses with her eyes, filling her soul with wretchedness to the point where she wanted to scream, cry, vomit or run into the darkness in utter madness, finding nothing she would move on, only to find that there were billions of such mass-graves littering this dark land.

_I'm never gonna make it out alive, am I?_ she despaired at last. _I'll be trapped in here and then one day I'll just lay down and join them...forever..._

Suddenly, she became aware that all the lights went out. All the corpses ceased to give off their pale, sickly glow. Once again she was in a cloud of darkness. She could see nothing beyond, even the ground at her feet had disappeared: for all she knew, she might be up in the eye of a cyclone. Yet in the darkness there was peace, for she was trapped in here, true enough, but nothing could ever reach her here ever again. She was safe, and she blamed herself for ever delighting in that safety.

Out of the darkness, Glinda became distinctly aware that someone was there, watching her. She could see no face, but she was acutely aware of a presence, looming over her like a great shadow, with icy hands reaching out to snuff out the warm heart beating beneath her breasts. She looked about, but could see nothing: yet that did not make her feel any safer.

"Begone," a voice whispered from out of the darkness. It was high, cold, and threatening. "The living have no place among the dead."

"I am here to rescue one who died in this world," Glinda retorted. "Her name is..."

"None shall escape the hands of Death."

"She's not of this world!" Glinda shouted out at the nothingness. "It's not her time. Please, let her come back!"

She felt foolish for shouting, for there was nothing out there, as far as her eyes could tell. Yet she knew that there was something out there, and she knew that it understood her. For now she could feel the ice turn to fire.

"You dare come before me and expect that I should surrender my slaves to you!" the voice rasped.

"She's from another world!" Glinda added. "This is not her fate! Just release her and let us leave in peace!"

The dark was silent for a moment, as it pondered the words of this unusually bright thing in its realm. After a moment which seemed like an eternity to Glinda, the clouds parked and she saw a strange sight. There, a few yards or so away from her, was a clearing among the scorched earth: a place where no bodies lay, save for one. Her heart leaped within her chest as she saw that it was a green body, lying face down upon the foul earth.

"Oh, Elphie!" she cried out, and ran the rest of the way, throwing herself at the side of the green body. She turned the body over and noticed the face: it was exactly the same face she had remembered from her days at dear old Shiz that was no more, green, angular, sharp-featured and yet lovely in its own way. The eyes were closed, and Glinda thought that, because the face looked so peaceful, she might actually be sleeping. It seemed to mock the horrible way she had left this world, the look of peace on her face.

"Do you indeed wish to take her from me?" the shadows said.

"Yes!" Glinda replied, looking back at the gathering darkness.

"Then hear my words, mortal, and beware: the soul you have taken from the land of the dead must be purchased by another. As none have ever left this land, there shall be a price for stealing the green maiden from my keeping. At the time appointed, Death shall visit you once again and claim his right."

There was silence, as Glinda looked at the face of Elphaba, tears falling down from her eyes onto the pale green cheek.

"Agree, or neither of you shall ever leave this land alive." the darkness insisted, and Glinda could feel the cold gathering behind her back.

Death was forcing her up against the wall, so to speak. A demand was being made upon her, one so awful that she could not possibly bear to agree to it. Yet she had no choice: accept this horrible fate and save Elphaba, or die at her side, her journey now all in vain. But she would not take the easy road out, not again. Therefore, with no thought for tomorrow, she turned into the darkness, tears streaming down her cheeks, and nodded.

"Yes, I agree." she said softly.

"I promise you, we _shall_ meet again." whispered the darkness, as it receded from about Glinda's person.

* * *

Once again, she could see the light of the corpses, emanating light that was not light. And a little beyond, she could see the Gates of Sheol, the ghastly entrance to this Oz-forsaken place. Her heart lifted, and she knelt down once again at the side of the green body. Gently, she slid her arms beneath the cold body, trying to lift her up. It was difficult, for the green body seemed to become even heavier than she had once known it to be. Her heart began to race, as she saw the darkness was closing in about her.

"We had a deal!" she shouted.

"Indeed we do," the darkness replied. "And unless you leave now, I shall rescind my word."

"You would go back on your promise?"

"You are in my domain now," the voice said. "And you are yet alive. So warm, so soft...no, I will have you _both_ now!"

Straining as never before, Glinda pulled herself back onto her feet, with the green body in her arms. Already the gate of bones seemed more distant, like the ghost of a shadow in the dead of night. But she ran towards that shadow, dreading what lay behind her. The darkness was reaching out, like cold hands, groping...grasping...reaching out to take _her_.

And she didn't have to be as clever as Elphaba to guess what would happen if they touched her. Something deep inside her told her that she shouldn't wait to find out what would happen, and so she pushed again, straining though her tired body screamed for a rest. Her limps were aching beyond belief, muscles she never thought she had now screamed in painful protest as she pushed one leg in front of the other, her eyes always set for the gate. An eternity passed, and yet the gate never seemed to be getting any closer.

At last, however, with muscles and tendons screaming in protest, Glinda finally stepped over the threshold of the gate of bones. For some reason, she cast her eyes behind her, glaring at the land of the dead which she had survived. Behind she saw all enshrouded in the darkness, which now billowed and smoked in fury at having failed its own trap, foiled at its own cheat.

"Run, mortal!" the darkness glowered angrily. "You cannot hide from the inevitable. I _will_ find you! What you love dearest, I swear, that shall die!"

Glinda paid it no heed, for she had passed the gate of bone and now looked up at an impossibly steep climb upward. These were the stairs she had taken that took her through the gates of night and into this place. Now she must walk up them, bones and muscles screaming in agony, if she were to return to the land of the living.

_Here it is, the last stretch_, she told herself. _Hold on, Elphie, soon we'll be together again! I just have to get to the top of these stairs..._

Up the stairs went Glinda Upland, up with her burden. Against aching limbs and a weary heart, against the misery and horror she had witnessed in Sheol behind her. Nothing would stop her on this last venture, not even her own protesting body. Up the stairs went Glinda Upland, up with her burden. Oh, how they would wonder to see her now: Momsy and Popsicle, Madam Morrible, the Wizard, Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose, Evemar Kloxolk, even _she_ would marvel if she saw herself. Up the stairs went Glinda Upland, up with her burden, the green maiden.

She stumbled upon the steps, scraping her knees and elbows until even they were aching. But she would not stop, not now. A fire burned within her bosom that now would not be quenched, though all the snows of the Elements be brought against it. Tears were now in her eyes, she was getting so close. Her heart betrayed her, making her feel that she had been tricked. Perhaps the darkness had allowed her to get this far, and when she arrived up top, she would find that she had not her green friend at all, but only ashes and dust.

_No! _she dismissed. _I've come this far, I...I _can't_ give up now!_

With one last, hopeless cry, she passed through the gates of night, running blindly into the overwhelmingly bright light of the sun and knew no more.

* * *

**(AN: Gee, I have Glinda faint a lot, but that's not because she's weak, but because she's weary. I mean, she's been going on very little food or none at all. So obviously, after some horrible strain, like being swept down the Gilikin River, or running uphill for a mile, and not being used to it, yeah, it's totally likely that she'd faint.)**

**(The next chapter is gonna be the one you've all been waiting for! I'm thinking about giving the story a new title, since we're obviously going to have more in it than just what you've seen here.)  
**


	8. Reunion

**(AN: It's amazing how two people can see the same thing and get two completely different stories out of it. Like, for instance, one could see someone being tortured to death: as for myself, I would be disgusted and very sorrowful, whereas a lot of people [from what I've seen on the internet, even here] would be cheering and laughing and mocking their suffering.)  
**

**(I'm sorry for that rant, but I was watching a certain movie and just thought I'd throw that out there for consideration. It has no relevance to the story as a whole, I just needed to get something off my mind and heart. Don't worry, the rest of this story will make you smile...or however you feel when such moments happen.)  
**

* * *

**Reunion**

Once again, Glinda opened her eyes after blacking out. _What a horrible dream I had!_ she exclaimed. _Well, I'm glad it's finally over._ Above her was the open sky, blue and welcoming: she looked upon it as though she were seeing it for the first time, though she knew not why. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, then looked about her. The first thing that she saw, however, sent the blood rushing to her usually rosy cheeks. There she was, Elphaba Thropp, lying next to her, completely naked from head to toe.

_And she's still so thin,_ she thought, averting her eyes from the sight of Elphaba's hind quarters. Though, she had to admit, her hips did look a little bigger than how she remembered. She had never seen Elphaba naked before, not in all of their travels, and the closest she had come was the simple blue frock she wore to the dance at the Ozdust. Hideoucious, even by the best standards, but it showed off her curves, or lack thereof, and was the only time she had seen her in such little clothing.

Except now, of course.

_Well, _this _is awkward, _Glinda thought. _I don't have any other clothes with me, unless I could cut my skirt up and use it to cover her. But I don't have a knife, so I can't do that either._

Then she heard a noise that made her heart skip a beat, her eyes well up with tears and took her breath away. She heard a sigh, but it came not from her lips. She held her breath, eager to hear or see something else, anything else. Then, she could hear, slowly, the sound of soft breathing. With both hands, she turned Elphaba's body over, cradling her head on her knee. She saw that, despite what had happened in recent months, Elphaba's breasts had grown. With an embarrassing memory coming flashing back into her mind, she brushed the long, raven hair down over Elphaba's chest and kept her eyes focused on the green face, eyes still closed shut.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the emerald eyelids slid open, revealing the same profound, insistent brown eyes, streaked with miniscule lines of silver.

"Elphie!" she sobbed. "Oh, Elphie!"

"G...Glinda?" breathed the green woman. "Wha...What are you looking at?"

"You're alive!" Glinda wept openly.

"I..." stammered Elphaba, as her eyes "I-I remember...Liir."

"You do?" she smiled.

"He-He was in trouble and-ah!" One of the green hands, with its long, clever fingers, reached up to the stomach, as if feeling for an old wound.

Glinda, meanwhile, was flogging her brains, trying to remember when this happened. It must have been so long ago, and not even in Oz or Middle Earth. But then again, she had not always been with her, and had not been there when the Lord of Lies impaled her with his arm, infecting her with the black blood of Hvergelmir. But whatever happened, Glinda saw that Elphaba seemed well enough. She certainly wasn't trying to kill her, and that was an improvement.

"Oh, Elphie, I'm so glad you're alive!" wept Glinda.

"Hey, now," Elphaba said. "There's no reason for the tears."

"You have no idea, Elphie," Glinda said, biting her lip and shaking her head. "You have no idea."

* * *

Together again, Glinda and Elphaba found themselves on the side of a mountain, that looked down on more or less nothing, simply the wilderness. But it was no wilderness as they knew it, and there were no signs of life anywhere. For the moment, that was enough: Glinda didn't want anyone seeing Elphaba in such a state. With her arm around Elphaba's green shoulders, she led her down the hill-side and came to a place nestled among a grove of pine trees. Here they could be safe from anyone looking at them from a distance. Glinda searched the trunks of the trees for fallen branches and created a small pile of sticks, needles and branches in the midst of the clearing. She raised her hand and attempted to cast the fire spell, but seemed to be having trouble.

"Uh, could you give me a hand?" Glinda asked. She raised Elphaba up to her feet, steadying her as she tip-toed over to the pile of wood.

"_Incendio_," Elphaba said, holding out her hand. A ball of fire struck the pile of sticks and it caught fire. Glinda laughed, smiling at Elphaba.

"You remember!" she exclaimed.

"Of course I do," Elphaba replied. "I've been able to do this since ever."

"Really?"

"I learned it from the Grimmerie when I was a fugitive," Elphaba said. "A nice ball of fire often came in handy in a pinch."

They sat around the fire, for even in the middle of the day, sun shining and all, it was still cold: it was, after all, autumn. Glinda made a patch of ground next to the fire cleaner and free of pine-cones and sharp rocks. She knew how painful it was to sleep and sit on the rough ground, and she was wearing clothes. On this cleared point, Elphaba sat with her knees hunched up beneath her chin and her arms wrapped around them.

"I'm sorry, Elphie," Glinda said. "I don't have any food with me, or I'd give you something to eat."

"Oh, that's alright," assured the green woman. "Right now, what I want more than food are..."

"Clothes," they said as one. "But I don't have any on me either."

"But I need clothes, Glinda," Elphaba insisted. "It's cold and I don't want to go walking around naked."

"Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do," Glinda replied. "But still, Elphie, it's an improvement."

"What's an improvement?"

"Well, you're..." Glinda cleared her throat. "I mean, well, being a woman and one who knows a few things, I think I can say that you've...uh, grown rather nicely."

"What are you talking ab..." Elphaba began, but then she stopped as she realized. "You looked at me naked!"

"I sort of had to, Elphie!" Glinda raised her hands. "I mean, I _did_ carry you out of Sheol and your clothes weren't with you then!"

"I didn't think high society people took advantage of those in their charge," Elphaba replied.

"I didn't take advantage!" Glinda insisted. "I just thought I'd give you a compliment, for Oz's sake!"

"Well, this certainly makes sense," Elphaba stated.

"What? What makes sense?"

"Your strange attraction towards me," Elphaba began. "Your overwhelming desire to marry Fiyero, and the fact that I found someone and you haven't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Glinda, I know you're naive but I'm practically spelling it out to you! I don't think Fiyero would approve, and I don't think we..."

"Oh, you mean..." Glinda began. "You think I..." And then she broke down into peels of laughter, which sent her rolling and frolicking on the ground.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Oh, oh, oh, Elphie!" cried Glinda, for she had laughed so hard that she was now crying. "It's so good to have you back."

"You didn't say yes or no, though," Elphaba responded.

"Oh, Elphie," sighed Glinda as she began her explanation. "I love you more than life itself, but as a friend. I mean, as stupid as you and the others might think I am, I know a few things, like friendship and that it's impossible for two women to make a baby." She suddenly hesitated, breathing in slowly as she began to feel choked up.

"Elphie, there's something I need to tell you, something I should have told you long ago, before we left the White City. I've been a bit jealous of you and Fiyero. I mean, despite what you think, I really do want to find my Prince Charming and settle down, maybe. I've seen too much of war and death and blood to want it anymore: I want an end to my travels and my trials. I want to find a nice little cottage in Gilikin, maybe find a handsome man to live with, and, I don't know, have a few babies. Yes, I know, it would ruin my figure like nobody's business, but it didn't ruins yours."

"Thanks, Glin."

"What I mean is that I want to find love, and settle down and live out the rest of my life in peace. But that wasn't my end, as long as I was with you: you had Fiyero, and that always reminded me of when you stole him from me."

"Stole?" Elphaba retorted. "You still think I stole him from you?"

"Well, that's how it felt at the time, and whenever I'm down or depressed, it feels that way again. And I...well, I did something...horrible. I lied to you, as you remember, when you thought I left Midgard with you the first time. It wasn't me: it was a copy of me, summoned from the Grimmerie."

"I know that," Elphaba replied.

"But what you don't know," Glinda continued. "Is that that one wasn't the only one: there were three. One of them is dead, that was the one who traveled with you. The other two, well, that's the problem. One of them is trapped in the South and the other one, well, I think she's gone rogue."

"So _that's_ it, then," Elphaba replied. "You brought me back to fight your battles for you again, is that it?"

"No, I...I...I..." Glinda stammered. "Sweet Oz, Elphie, why do you have to be so difficult?"

Elphaba giggled. "I like seeing you nervous."

"That's mean, Elphie!"

"But that's the only reason you brought me back, right?"

"Well, I mean, yes, I did need help. She's turned all of Oz on its head! But that's not the only reason."

"Then why?"

"Because you ran out on Fiyero, on baby Liir, on Nessa, on...on me! Because...Because I miss you, Elphie!" She turned away, sobbing just as furiously as before at her friend's annoyingly difficult behavior.

"I..." sighed Elphaba. "I don't know what to say. I mean, well, I know I've not been myself. I mean, I was pretty hormonal when I was carrying Liir, and I said things I didn't mean. But, Glinda, what you said! It sounds like I've done worse things, and I don't even think I remember them!"

Glinda sighed and she began telling Elphaba all that had happened in Midgard. She spoke of Grimhild's treachery, and how she had barely escaped and found a wounded Elphaba, and how they left Midgard and came to Maaptia. Elphaba smiled fondly when she heard the name of Evemar Kloxolk, and laughed when she heard Glinda say that Maaptia was not of Oz.

"That's not possible," she dismissed. "There's nothing beyond the desert."

"Don't even get me started, Elphie." Glinda replied sternly. "We've been to so many worlds, you have no place saying that our world is no bigger than the Four Countries of Oz."

On she went, telling about Elphaba's slow descent into madness: she started with her sullenness, and then her sickness, and the lengths they went to heal her. And she recounted tearfully of how, when all their attempts failed, Elphaba got up and walked off into the desert.

"Oh, Glinda," Elphaba said. "I...I didn't do that."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did, dammit!" shouted Glinda. "Don't even say you didn't. I chased you back into this world, I spent the worst part of my life chasing after you, second only to those horrible days in Mordor..." Glinda shivered as she remembered the cold, barrenness of the Black Land and the iron claws of the orc-like Variags.

"I'm sorry, Glinda," Elphaba admitted. "I just...don't remember any of this. But go on, please."

Glinda continued, recounting her adventures with the warriors of the Swords. When she came to the final showdown on the side of the hill, she could barely go on. She wept with every word as she recounted the battle and how she had narrowly won, and how Elphaba had cursed her with her dying breath. Glinda then paused, and cast her eyes down in what looked like shame.

"I, uh..." she continued. "I couldn't bear to have you away, not when you were needed. So I...I went north, and spoke to the Ozmists. When they told me that you weren't there, a friend helped me come here. The rest..." She shivered, unwilling to bring back to memory the hideous images she had seen in the land of the dead.

"Look, it's almost night-time," Glinda said at last. "I'm tired, and I'm sure you must be. Might as well get to sleep."

"You sleep," Elphaba replied. "I'm not tired."

"If you insist," Glinda sighed, curling up into a ball by the fire and preparing to doze off.

* * *

Glinda did not sleep for very long, for the night held only terrors for her. But when she awoke, she found a sight that made her very sad. Sitting there, hunched up with her knees under her chin, was Elphaba, whimpering and shivering as close to the fire as she could be.

"Elphie?" Glinda asked groggily. "What's wrong?"

"I...I..." chattered the green woman. "I can't s-sleep."

"Why not?" she asked, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"T-Th-The dead," Elphaba whispered. "The...faces of the dead, everywhere. I...I see them, every time I close my eyes! I see...there's this eye...it looks for me. I hear laughter in my head...mocking laughter...faces...voices...eyes...leering...it's-it's..." She broke down into shivering, mumbling and shaking violently.

Glinda slid over to her, wrapping her arm around Elphaba's shoulder. She felt as though she was going to cry, seeing Elphaba so weak. It had been so long since she remembered being with Elphaba, yet she always remembered that it was _she_, Glinda Upland, who was the one who always was in trouble, and Elphaba who was the strong one. Now the roles were reversed. She pressed Elphaba's head against her shoulder, then leaned her own head against Elphaba's head and heard the green woman's frantic breathing.

"Aw, it's okay," Glinda wept. "Everything's gonna be alright, Elphie."

"Don't let the fire go out!" Elphaba breathed. "Please, don't let the fire go out!"

"I won't, I won't," Glinda replied. She concentrated hard, knowing that she had to do this, for Elphaba. For some reason, she witnessed once again their roles being reversed and was once again thrust the responsibility of being 'the strong one'. She would do this, she would make her own magic work, even if she were not as powerful as Elphaba.

"_Incendio Perpetua_," she whispered at the fire, pointing her right hand at the flames. For a few moments, they burned brighter and hotter than before. It would last longer, that much was certain: for how long, she knew not. But it didn't matter, for she would be there for Elphaba. It would not be like before, in the attic of the Emerald Palace. This time, she would be there for her.

"I'm here, Elphie," she sighed. "I'll never leave you again."

* * *

**(AN: Yes, lots of nice and fluffy stuff here. And, obviously, Elphaba is back. Her aversion to the dark, obviously, is because of all the evil things she has been exposed to, not to mention being in Sheol. Also, the original Wicked Witch of the West from _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ was afraid of the dark, and I decided to make that canon in my story. I did a lot of research into _Wizard of Oz_ and Oz-series lore before deciding to continue on, as I knew that I needed to expand the story and having it relate to the Oz-series as well as _Wicked_ is the best way, imo.)  
**

**(Please review! Should I change the title of the story? Obviously, we've got more going on than just the return of Elphaba, so I wonder if I should change the name.)  
**


	9. Glinda Dreams Again

**(AN: Hardest part about writing Grimmerie spells is that I can't speak the language they feature. I don't think it's Latin, even though the slippers spell from "The Wicked Witch of the East" was, but the levitation and scarecrow spells don't sound Latin. The one I used here sounds egregiously Latin, and, of course, the grammar is awful. If I could get one of you to suggest something that sounds more...Grimmerish, that would be nice. But, I don't want the spells to sound _too_ Latin, or then they're pretty much just Harry Potter knock-offs.)  
**

* * *

**Glinda Dreams Again**

She was angry, as she had been since they left the White City. Now she was on her own once again, but it was not the same as before. Now she had the Grimmerie, she had power just beneath her fingers. All she had to do was find the right spell, and it would all be hers. She had used the monks to help her read a phrase or two, but they got too suspicious. One of them actually found out what she was saying and tried to burn the Grimmerie. That had been a close shot, but now she had exactly what she needed. Here it was, lying before her: power, real power, right at her fingertips. No need for sorcery lessons, no need to stand behind Elphaba's skirts anymore, no need to stand behind anyone anymore.

There were risks, of course. But she didn't care. The words she had had translated were not pretty, and perhaps that was why the monk in question had been startled. But once again, that wasn't what Glinda was thinking about at the moment. For her, there was only one answer, and that was to rise about that damnable green woman. She _had_ to do this! With hands over the book, she began to chant.

_Partiro effingo, corpus magnis. Findo Glinda et corpus quator. Genus aurum, protegat rubens, vis tenebrae. Findo anima et corpus quator!_

Suddenly, there was a distinct pain coursing throughout her body, like a spike of white heat exploding from her head and stomach. She leaned forward, feeling as though she were about to vomit, and saw that her body was glowing. Suddenly her mouth opened and something spewed out of her, leaving her feeling drained and weak. Once again it happened and a third time following, and then it was all over. She felt horribly weak and drained, as though she were tired, thirty, famished, weary and sleepy all at the same time: it was the worst feeling she had ever had. When she looked up, she saw three naked figures standing before her, each with different colored hair. Glinda smiled as she looked upon them one by one. They were all herself.

Glinda rose unsteadily to her feet, wrapping them one by one in blankets from her bed, carefully making sure not to touch their skin. She had intentionally purchased extra ones for this very purpose, as well as three new dresses. These were lying on the bed as well. Once the others were wrapped in their wrappers, Glinda dismissed them all as she prepared herself to give them their duties. Once she was ready, she called in the first one. This one looked the most like her: pretty, blond-haired and blue-eyed.

"Hello, there," she said to the woman standing before her. "Tell me, what do you know about yourself?"

"I am Glinda Upland," she said.

"No," the real Glinda interjected. "_I_ am Glinda Upland, I want you to always remember that. I want you to leave this place immediately. Elphaba and Fiyero have left, I want you to go looking for them. Stay with them, protect them at all costs."

"You want me to go with them?" the new one asked. "As myself?"

"No, as me."

"You want me to lie to them?"

"Yes."

"B-But I don't wanna lie to them!"

"Listen, it's for the best. I need to stay here, to keep an eye on things here. But I can't be in two places at once, that's why I created you. Now I want you to follow Elphaba and Fiyero, keep them safe at all costs, do you understand?"

"Yes," nodded the blond reluctantly.

"You may go now." The blond turned about, and was about to leave, when the real Glinda told her to wait.

"I need you to take this with you," she said, handing the other one the Grimmerie.

"The Grimmerie?" sighed the other Glinda. "I can touch it?"

"Yes, but don't touch me!" the real Glinda exclaimed, pulling her hand away from the other's hand as she took the Grimmerie.

"Alright, but why not?"

"I'm the real Glinda," she said. "If you touch me, you'll go back into me and this whole plan will be for nothing." She sighed, then looked back at the Grimmerie. "Keep it with you, it will be safer outside of Worms." The other one nodded, then prepared to leave, when Glinda stopped her. "Call in the red-haired one when you leave, won't you?"

"Okay," were the last words the duplicate said as she left the room.

The door opened again and the red-haired Glinda appeared. She sat down before the real Glinda, with an earnest look on her face.

"Tell me, what do you know about yourself?" the real Glinda asked.

"I am who you want me to be," the red-haired Glinda replied.

"When you leave this place," the real Glinda began. "I want you to return to Oz, I'll teach you the correct spell. When you get back, I want you to rule Oz in my stead as Glinda the Good. I want you to report to me whatever happens as soon as it does."

"Is there anything else I should know?" the red-haired Glinda asked.

"When I return," the real Glinda replied. "I will touch you, and you will cease to exist."

"Why?" the red-haired Glinda sobbed.

"When I return to Oz, your purpose will be fulfilliated," Glinda said. "When I touch you, all of your memories, all that you might have learned or achieved, will return to me."

"I don't want to go!" red-haired Glinda bewailed.

"But that won't be for a long while," assured the blond Glinda. "Just calm down, you'll get to live for as long as you like."

"Really?"

"Yes, now go on and start living! Remember, keep Oz safe."

"I will," were the last words the red-haired Glinda said before leaving.

* * *

The last one did not need to be summoned. By the time the red-haired one had left, there was only one left and she came without being called. The real Glinda looked surprised when she saw this one: her face and body were almost exactly like her own. Only the hair was different: this one had dark hair, as black as night.

"Let me guess," she said as she crossed the room. "You're Glinda."

"Yes, I am," the real Glinda replied. "How did you..."

"What, do you think I'm stupid?" chuckled the dark-haired one. "I have all of your memories, and I spoke with the blond one while you were speaking with the red-head. I've learned a few things."

"Like what? How much do you know?"

"Everything," said the dark one with a smirk. "Everything from when you were born to when I was created." There was silence between the two of them for a moment, when at last the dark-haired one spoke. "Aren't you going to ask me what I know about myself?"

"There's no need," replied Glinda. "You seem to know quite a lot already."

"And what's my purpose?"

"To go."

"Where?"

"Out there," Glinda replied. "Do you remember the world between the worlds, where we met the Custodian?"

"All the gold lights and such?" replied the dark-haired one. "Yes, I remember."

"There are other worlds out there," Glinda continued. "So many that it would take a lifetime for me to ever explore them all, to ever unlock their secrets. I have to stay here, to make my dream come true, but you, you should go and explore them."

"I should, should I?"

"Learn all you can," she replied. "Become as powerful as you wish. Only go out there, find the answers to every question, and don't turn back, never settle for anything less than absolute adoration, love and the world."

"Sounds like a challenge," smirked the dark-haired one. "Alright, then, I guess I'll be off now."

Those were the last words the dark-haired Glinda said as she turned away from the real Glinda. She never saw any sight of her again. Yet she knew something was wrong. She had seen a world of sand and glass, she had seen giant forests of mushrooms, and oceans of fire: what had the dark-haired one seen? And the red-haired one, had she lied to her? She had seen Oz in peace, with Ozma and the Wizard returned, and yet this was not the case. What had she said?

But the look the dark-haired Glinda gave her while they spoke chilled her to the bone.

* * *

**(AN: That was the lost chapter from _The Witch's Saga_. Lost because that's where it happened, but also not an official chapter because it was supposed to be held back for obvious plot reasons. I also realized some inconsistencies, like what Glinda had seen in her dreams about the red-haired Glinda's experiences. We'll explain that later.)**


	10. Return to Oz

**(AN: One reason I had that dream chapter was because I needed plot development. Another was because I needed to research underwear and hosiery of the 1900s. I mean, Elphaba wore black hose both in the 1939 movie [you can see them when the Witch is walking down the stairs just before the big melting scene] and in the musical, but I want to see if I can replicate Elphaba's last costume using 1900s clothing.)  
**

**(Time setting by now is about 1901, or the "Twenty-fifth Year of the Wizard")  
**

* * *

**Return to Oz**

When Glinda finally woke, it was the gray hours before dawn. She was sore and aching in every joint, but her eyes opened and she saw the raven-haired head of Elphaba lying on her shoulder: that hadn't been a dream. Glinda was happy for what seemed like the first time in ages. The fire had eventually burned out, and sometime during the night, they had both fallen asleep. Glinda, meanwhile, was trying to work out the dream she had just seen. She remembered all of what had happened, since she had been the one casting the spell, but this was the first time it had come back to her in a dream.

As she looked about, she suddenly gasped as she saw a black bundle lying on the ground. At first, she thought someone had died near their camp, for the mass looked about human-sized. Carefully, so as to not wake the sleeping Elphaba, she craned her neck over and examined the body: but there was no body to be found. Suddenly, she heard Elphaba sigh and stir at her shoulder.

"Mmm, what time is it?" Elphaba sighed.

"Almost morning," replied Glinda. "I'm sorry I waked you."

"No, it's alright," the green woman replied. "I...I don't know when I fell asleep, and I..." She sighed again. "I don't know what happened. I _think_ I might have dreamed, but...I can't remember, and I don't think I want to remember." She looked over and saw Glinda looking at the bundle. "What do you see?"

"I don't know," Glinda shook her head. "If you don't mind, I think I'll check it out." On her hands and knees, Glinda crawled over to the bundle and began rummaging through it. Her expression softened when she saw that there was indeed no dead body, just a bunch of clothes in very dark colors: probably black, but little could be seen in the dim light. As she went through them, she found a piece of paper, but it was so dark that she could not read it. Instead, she pocketed it in one of the pockets of her pale blue under-dress and decided to read it in the morning.

"What is it?" Elphaba asked.

"Clothes!" Glinda exclaimed happily.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

Glinda kept her back to Elphaba as she attempted to clothe herself. For at least a whole minute, Glinda heard nothing but sighs and frustrated groans from her friend before she decided to turn and see what was the matter. When she turned about, she saw that Elphaba was still not dressed.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I...I can't do it!" the green woman wept.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Elphaba was hesitant to say it at first, but Glinda noticed that, whatever it was, it was horrible beyond her imagining. Elphaba's hands shook violently, making her unable to steady herself as she attempted in vain to clothe herself. Glinda swallowed hard, fearing what would happen. She had no problem with seeing a woman naked, she had, after all, seen herself naked when she took her frequent baths (which had become less frequent since she first left Oz), but she had no desire to see Elphaba naked.

_But she can't dress herself,_ Glinda thought, mentally girding her loins for this embarrassing task. _I guess these are the moments that define just how far you're willing to go for your friend._

"Here, let me help you," she offered.

Elphaba did not protest, and Glinda was thankful. That would have made the whole ordeal a lot more difficult. Thankfully again, though Elphaba was shaking violently, she was not crippled and she could stand on her own two feet, which made placing on the underclothes easier. Glinda told Elphaba to hold out her arms as she slid them through the hoops of the camisole, which she helped pull down over Elphaba's head and rest on her shoulders. It was white, which was uncharacteristic for Elphaba. But then again, Glinda guessed, no one would really be seeing her underclothes, so Elphaba wouldn't matter.

Once she was a little more covered, Glinda steadied Elphaba's hand as she covered her legs with the long, black tights. These were just like Elphaba had worn back in Oz. Over all of this went a one-piece black underskirt, which was almost exactly like that which Elphaba wore underneath her Elvish robes in Middle Earth. Once the ensemble was complete, Glinda sighed in relief: no more awkward nudity to worry about. Elphaba was now clad exactly as she had been when she and Fiyero had first left Oz a little over a year ago.

"Thank you, Glinda," Elphaba smiled.

"Think nothing of it," Glinda replied. _I sure want to._

"It sure was lucky there was a pile of clothes sitting here that were just my size," Elphaba stated.

"Yeah," Glinda replied. By now, the sun was peeking its head over the hills in the east and there was just enough light for Glinda to try to read. She pulled out the paper from her pocket and held it up to the sunlight.

_Here are a few things forgotten that she will be sure to need - The Custodian._

Glinda wondered how the Custodian could have found such clothes, or how he knew what size Elphaba had been. For a moment, she wanted to think something sinister about him, but it seemed ridiculous. He had always been a help to them, showing them the way they wanted to go, giving advice, even helping her, Glinda, find her way to save Elphaba.

"Do you feel up to walking, Elphie?" Glinda asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied the green woman. "There's just one question."

"What's that?"

"Where are we?"

"Uh..." Glinda mused, looking about with an uncertain look on her face, biting her lip as she saw no signs of anything remotely familiar.

"I see," Elphaba sighed. "Just like normal, then."

"Wait!" Glinda almost shouted. "Do you hear that?"

"No," Elphaba shook her head.

"Over here!" the blond pointed into the trees. "Come on!"

Glinda set off as fast as she could, passing through the tall pine-trees, with Elphaba trailing on behind her. It did not take them long to find what Glinda was searching for, however, for soon the sound was audible to both of them, like the twinkling of soft bells. They came to a small opening in the woods, where there bubbled a small spring of water, as merry as ever. But what was unique about this spring was that it was gold, shining in the growing sunlight.

"Sweet Oz!" gasped Glinda. "That's..."

"From the world between the worlds," Elphaba finished. "I remember it as well."

"Do you think we should..."

"Can we trust it? I mean, what if it...wait!"

Glinda, sensing that some long argument was arriving, decided to go ahead and drink from the spring. With one hand she brought the shining gold water up to her lips, while with the other she waved for Elphaba to do likewise. But she did not see if she had by the time it went to her head. Everything slowly faded out, like falling asleep. When her eyes opened back up, she found herself upon golden prairies, stretching for miles into the distance. There was a sigh, and she turned and saw Elphaba rising up to her feet next to her. For one moment, Glinda looked about and suddenly her heart leaped when she saw a black castle on the top of a group of mountains just to the south. She recognized the spires of that castle.

"We made it!" she exclaimed. "We're back in Oz!"

* * *

**(AN: I guess you can say that I'm taking this story _very_ seriously. Not only am I doing mental brainstorming sessions when I'm not writing, but I also wrote down some notes about the progression of the story.)**

**(Thought this was a good place to cut the chapter off. Elphaba's clothed again [yay!] and the Custodian has been popping up again to lend them his assistance. You will soon see why it was needed and why they couldn't just magick themselves back to Oz [one reason being is that the Grimmerie was lost]. But more on that later...review! We got more followers on this story, so review! Don't be shy! Your reviews keep my stories going!)  
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	11. Goddess of Freedom

**(AN: I suddenly had more brainstorming, and if only I had more time to write, I could get this chapter out sooner. It's gonna be great. Unfortunately, I've broken my promise and this half of the story will be in Oz, as we have, quite plainly stated, 'returned to Oz'.)  
**

* * *

**Goddess of Freedom**

Elphaba looked up at the spires of Kiamo Ko, musing on whether or not they had come at the right time. Everything certainly looked in its place, but that was just wrong enough as it was. She didn't belong here, she knew that even by looking at her skin. This also was not what she had planned: send Glinda back and then go find someplace safe for herself and Fiyero.

But her thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a scream from Glinda. She turned and saw immediately what it was that made the little blond scream in fright. A huge black bull stood before them, snorting and pawing at the ground with his hooves. Elphaba slowly made her way to Glinda's side and wrapped her hand around the blond's tiny, sweating ones.

"Elphie, what's that?" whined Glinda. "I don't think he's friendly." But Elphaba said nothing: her eyes were turned towards the bull, who was wearing what looked like the remains of a waistcoat and trousers.

"I know who this is," Elphaba whispered. "That's Doctor Wellington, he was a physician before he lost his job during the Wizard's regime." She turned then to the bull.

"Listen, Doctor, it's okay," she began. "You're among friends. We're not going to hurt you." The bull snorted. "Doctor, doctor! Don't be afraid! It's me, it's Elphaba! I'm not going to hurt you!"

But the bull's only response was a low, menacing growl.

"What's wrong with him?" Glinda whimpered.

"I think he's gone feral," Elphaba whispered. "He's forgotten how to speak and went rogue. He's as much a danger to himself as to..."

But before she could finish, the big bull charged at them. Elphaba pushed Glinda aside, just barely missing being mauled by the savage bull. But the bull was fast, and he had turned about and was charging them again. Once again, Glinda bore witness to another incident like that she had seen that first day at Shiz, with the accident with Nessarose. Elphaba held out her hands, palms open towards the charging bull, as if in a gesture of begging, but fire blazed out of her hands, catching the turf at the bull's feet on fire. It roared in fear, barely coming to a halt before the flames. This must have scared it off, for the bull galloped away from them as fast as it could.

"I can't believe I did that!" Elphaba sighed, looking at her hands as though they were covered in blood.

"You saved us, Elphie," Glinda panted, still shaken up by the whole incident.

"But I attacked an animal!"

"He was going to hurt us!"

"There must have been some other way," Elphaba bemoaned. "I...I've never used my magic to harm Animals."

Suddenly, they heard another noise that made them even more worried. The sound was of rushing wind, and suddenly, they looked about and found themselves surrounded by an army of figures clad all in black, masked with iron. One by one they lowered their pole-arms and muskets at them, until Elphaba and Glinda found themselves surrounded in a thick of foes.

"Stay where you are!" the leader of them announced. They could tell he was a leader for he wore a cloak whereas the others did not.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Elphaba, hands held up as if in surrender. She was actually going over the _Incedio_ spell in her mind, in case she needed to make a fiery escape. "Who are you?"

"Freedom squad," the leader replied.

"Then would you mind letting us go free?" Elphaba retorted sarcastically, not buying it for one second.

"I think not," a voice said. Both of the women turned to the voice, which was a feminine voice, familiar yet commanding. From the ranks of the Freedom squad strode a woman about Elphaba's height, dressed in a long black dress with long black sleeves. Her hair, which was dark, was tied back behind her head. The face was familiar: Elphaba had seen that face almost constantly for the past year or so.

"Hello, Glinda," the woman in black replied. "Welcome back to Oz."

"Who is this?" Elphaba asked. "She knows you. Glinda, who is she?"

"What, she never told you?" returned the dark-haired woman, laughing in mockery. "Just as well. Elphaba Thropp: you put me in chains for four long years. If there is anyone in this world I hate the most, it's you." She punched Elphaba in the face, knocking her down to the ground with the strength of her blow, magically enhanced as Glinda could see by the amethyst glow about her fist.

"And what about you, hmm?" she asked, turning to Glinda. "You don't look afraid to me."

"Glinda..."

"It's Galinda now!" shouted the brunette duplicate. After gaining her composure, she continued. "Actually, it's Galinda, Goddess of Freedom, Savior of Oz from the wicked things of the past. I rule Oz: there is no Wizard, no witches, no Ozma, no rules, no laws and no gods."

"No peace, no freedom, no justice, you mean?" Glinda replied. "I demand an explanation for your actions, woman! Didn't I tell you to go in search of power and greatness?"

"You said settle for nothing less than the world," Galinda retorted. "And that's what I've done. I've liberated a world from centuries of superstition and magical dictators. Now I want you to take your impotent green freak and leave Oz and never return."

"You forget," Glinda said, raising a threatening finger at Galinda. "One touch and it's all over. Remember how I created you? If I touch you now, you'll be dead before you can react!"

Galinda laughed in mockery, taking a defiant step closer. "Silly girl! I've become more powerful than you could ever imagine," she said, taking another step forward. "So powerful that I'm more than just a shade, a doppelganger." Another step forward. "Did ginger fail to mention that? Hmm? That I'm more powerful than you? I haven't had any of your symptoms: the lethargy, depression, listlessness, weakness. None of them!" She was now within arm's reach. "I've become independent of you. In fact, I'm so powerful that I wager if I were to touch you, _I_ would assimilate you."

"You're bluffing!" Glinda replied, though fear was in her voice as she spoke.

"Am I?" roared Galinda, seizing Glinda by the throat. From where they touched, there was a golden light, which enveloped the two of them. Glinda's mouth slowly fell open, it seemed as though a wave of light washed over her and came upon Galinda. The little blond was crying out in great pain, while Galinda only hissed back, in some kind of emotion that was indescribable. Suddenly, the spell was broken by a flash of fire. It dissipated against a shield of amethyst light summoned by Galinda, who turned her attention to Elphaba, dropping Glinda at her feet. Her Freedom squad rushed towards the green woman, weapons poised at the ready.

"Leave her be," dismissed Galinda. "She's useless."

"Shouldn't we kill her, just to be certain she won't become a threat later on?" asked the captain of the Freedom squad.

A huge wave of violet light knocked him to the ground, then rose up and came back down on him, crushing the life out of him before his subordinates. Galinda turned to them all.

"There will be no questioning my authority," she said. "Anyone who questions me questions freedom. Is that understood?" They all shouted their affirmation.

"Elphaba," Galinda said, turning to the green woman. "I spared your life not out of any misguided feelings of affection towards you. Oh, no, I expect you to resist me, and I will be there, waiting for you, with a smile on my face when you realize that nothing you do can stop me." She spat at the green woman, then turned her back.

"Take the blond one with us," she ordered. Three Freedom squad soldiers picked up Glinda and took her with them as they gathered around Galinda. She told them to keep her away from her, then there was the sound of rushing air and, just as soon as they had appeared, they were gone once again.

As Elphaba stood there, she heard another sound. She cast her eyes about, but this time, her guard was lessened as she saw two snow monkeys with large wings on their backs walking towards her with arms hanging to the ground. She recognized them, even though there were a dozen or so more of them and any stranger would have said that they all looked alike.

"Chistery! Nikko!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Chistery walked forward, with an odd-looking golden cap perched haphazardly on top of his bald head. He cackled when he saw Elphaba.

"We came...for you." he said, speaking slowly and haltingly.

"Oh, sweet Oz," Elphaba sighed, her eyes swelling up to double their size. "You can talk!"

"Yes," Chistery nodded vigorously. "We always knew...that you'd return. One whole year...everyone said you were dead...not us." The Monkey held out his black, wrinkled hand to Elphaba.

"What's this?" she asked. "You don't need my permission. You're free!"

"Come with me," Chistery said. "There are old friends...that you must meet."

"Old friends?" Elphaba asked. The Monkey smiled, chattering animatedly. Elphaba shrugged. "Well, I guess I have no other option. Lead the way, Chistery."

At this, Chistery and Nikko flew over to their former master, grabbed her by the arms and started to fly, carrying her between them. They flew south, away from the northern marches of the Great Kells and into the wide, flat, triangular plains that sat between the Kells, Wiccasand Turning and the Gilikin River. They touched down on the edge of the Gilikin River, next to an old skeleton of a tree which must have been something in its heyday. Now all the branches were bare and it looked ruinous and dead, though no less mighty in its size and girth.

But it were those things upon the branches that made Elphaba's eyes grow and her characteristic laugh to escape her lips.

"Chistery!" she exclaimed as her feet touched the ground. "Where did you find all of these things?"

"They were floating in the river," the Monkey said. "We saved them...hanged them to dry...on this tree. The dress we brought...from Kiamo Ko. Along with the boots."

Elphaba laughed again. She knew not what had happened to her old clothes, since she had left Oz in nothing more than her black under-dress, which she had worn almost faithfully since then. But now she was back again in familiar habits. Starting first with the boots, which felt right after walking on almost-bare stocking'd feet for a long while, she then slid into her dress, which was so heavy it felt like armor. Then she wrapped the cloak about her shoulders, fastening it at the neck. Her book sack she slung about her shoulders, placing the Grimmerie within. Into her hands went the silver-capped staff, given to her as a present by the old-eyed old man. On the cap she saw the words, etched into her memory as indelibly as into that silver. She spoke them softly..._Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah_...then it grew once again into her broom. Lastly, her free hand dropped her hat upon her raven head.

Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, had returned.

* * *

**(AN: How was that? I felt that the time was right.)**

**(How about you? Review, please! Tell me your thoughts, your questions, anything you'd like to know. If it's not too spoilery, I will answer.)  
**


	12. A Witch to Save a Witch

**(AN: Horay, we get a new chapter update [along with a cute title]!)  
**

* * *

**A Witch to Save a Witch**

To Quadling flew the Witch, flanked by Chistery and Nikko. Galinda and her Freedom squad had disappeared and she knew not where they went, but Chistery told her that Glinda in the South could help them. After a moment of perplexity, brought on no doubt by the fact that Elphaba had just seen Glinda be captured by herself and wondered how there could be two of them, much less_ three_, Elphaba decided to let the Monkeys lead her and she flew as fast as lightning to the land of the swamps. From the air, she had no problem spotting the floating palace, and landed on the roof. She let herself down and told the Monkeys to wait for her, while she pushed open the doors and entered the room of Glinda.

"What in Oz's name?" she stammered, hands over her mouth in shock, surprise and amazement. "Elphie? You're alive?"

"Of course I am," replied the green-skinned woman. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"B-B-But-But...But Glinda said you were dead!" she exclaimed. "I mean the other one, the real one. She said..."

"She said I was dead?" Elphaba replied. "But why?" She reached up and touched her head.

"But that doesn't matter now," red-haired Glinda dismissed. "Because you're back home, you can help us, you can save Oz, hmm?"

"Why should I want to help Oz?" Elphaba returned, placing her broom up against the wall and taking a seat opposite from Glinda. "What has Oz ever done for me?"

"But this is your home!" Glinda plead with her friend. "Oz is your home. It doesn't matter if the Wizard was your father or not, because you were born in Oz, raised in Oz, and loved by Oz!"

"Loved? Ha!" snorted Elphaba. "All of Oz couldn't wait to see me killed! Why should I help Oz now?"

"I don't think you're being fair, Elphaba!" Glinda said sternly, putting her slipper-clad foot down. "You didn't have a moment's hesitation about helping the Fellowship and the people of Middle Earth, even though their world had nothing to do with ours! Do you have so little regard for your own world?"

"I care about myself and only for myself," Elphaba replied.

"Then why are you here?"

"The Monkeys wanted me to come here," she began. "The other Glinda, the one with dark hair, Galinda: she kidnapped the real Glinda."

"Oh, Shiz!" sighed red-haired Glinda fearfully. "She's been threatening to do this! That's why there are wanted posters all across Oz. Your name is on them, and Glinda's too."

"What does she want with Glinda?"

There was silence for a moment, as red-haired Glinda scrutinized Elphaba. "What did you say?"

"I said 'What does Galinda want with Glinda?'"

"Aha!" said red-haired Glinda triumphantly. "I knew it, I knew it! You _do_ care about people other than yourself!"

"What? It's just Glinda," returned Elphaba with a shrug. "She needs looking after or she'll end up in all sorts of trouble."

"Thanks a lot, Elphie!"

"I mean it! She's naive and far too trusting. People can't wait to take advantage of that, and she'll be crushed!"

"Or worse," red-haired Glinda added, kneeling at Elphaba's feet. "Elphaba, listen to me. You have to rescue her, you just _have_ to! If Galinda succeeds in assimilating Glinda, _she_ will become the one true Glinda, powerful and wicked, and the Glinda you know and love will cease to exist."

"Why don't you go save her?"

"I can't go!" the red-haired Glinda said. "I'm not as powerful as Galinda. And, if I touched the real Glinda, it would be the end for me as well."

"What do you mean?"

"When you and Fiyero left Worms," the red-haired Glinda began. "Glinda remained behind. She had been reading the Grimmerie and learned a spell that split her soul into four pieces and created three bodies to house the other pieces. I was one, Galinda was another one, and the Glinda you remember, the one who lies buried beneath the Cloister of St. Glinda, is the third. But the spell was very complex: it said that if the host touched any of the bodies, it would absorb it back into herself. You see, I cannot touch Galinda or the real Glinda, or I will die."

"But what about Galinda, this so-called Goddess of Freedom?" Elphaba asked. "If she's just a doppelganger, why is Glinda in danger of touching her?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" an annoyed Glinda asked. "She's grown so powerful that she's almost a host of her own!"

"But we ran into..."

"You saw Galinda?" gasped the red-head in fear. "Elphie, that's mad! She's got all of Oz under her control, going up against her..."

"We didn't go up against her," Elphaba admitted. "A bull attacked Glinda and I used my magic to fight him off."

"That was foolish also," red-haired Glinda said. "Galinda has passed a law saying that no magic may be used in Oz. She enchanted a tapestry of Oz to show her everything that happens in Oz while it's happening, and she can teleport her Freedom squads to any location instantly!" She snapped her fingers to punctuate her statement.

"Wait, I thought you said she outlawed magic."

"For everyone else," Glinda replied. "She alone allows herself to use magic for whatever reasons she chooses."

"Still," Elphaba continued. "I don't think she's as as serious a threat as you think. I was there, I saw her grab Glinda by the throat. There was this golden light, but Galinda looked like she was straining, like it caused her great pain just to touch Glinda. I think she's not as powerful as she says she is. Glinda can manage on her own."

"Elphaba, please..."

"I don't care what she's done!" Elphaba retorted. "Oz is better off as it is now."

"Oh, Elphaba! How could you?"

"I mean it!" began Elphaba. "This is what I've wanted for Oz: to be free, for everyone to do whatever they will. I'm no leader, I never would have taken over if I overthrew the Wizard. Sometimes I asked myself if I really _had_ a plan, besides just causing trouble for the Wizard. I guess that was all I really ever wanted: to cause trouble and see my name everywhere."

"Elphaba," Glinda replied. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you! All you wanted was to see your name everywhere? That's what I wanted, and you see how it turned out for me? You can't think about nobody else but yourself, Elphie!"

"Why not? No one else will!"

"I do, Elphie!" Glinda shouted. "And Fiyero cares about you, I _know_ he does! We care about you, but you need to care about more than just yourself. Can't you see that you're letting people die because you won't help?"

"Oz let me die!"

"Oh, get over yourself, Elphaba! If you're going to sit here and whine about how nobody ever cared for you when one is standing right in your face, then I think you were better off dead!"

Elphaba did not respond, but watched as a furious Glinda stormed out of the room, sobbing as she went. Glinda's words had hurt her more than that magically-enhanced punch from Galinda, and yet what made her words all the more painful was the fact that they were true. And yet she did not want to believe them, because believing would mean that she was a horrible person, worse than she had ever believed, and that at least some of the lies spoken about her were true.

_No,_ Elphaba thought. _It's not true, it just_ isn't!_ I cared about the Animals, I...did _some_ good. But I can't get involved again, not like this, when...when..._

But she had no answer, no more excuses. She could dish them out to whoever argued, but deep down inside, she knew where lay her true loyalties. It didn't frighten her very much to be considered wicked or evil, because she had been that way for three years in Oz. But to be alone, even as she was now without Glinda, without Fiyero, without Nessa, without any of them, was worse than she could ever possibly hope to endure.

And now that was upon her.

* * *

**(AN: Well, it seems I have more readers, so I give you a chapter update.)**

**(I had originally wanted this chapter to end better, but then I remembered why I'm beginning to lose faith in _Wicked_ to begin with. It's not because of the fans, because a-hole fans are everywhere. It's the fact that Elphaba isn't the heroine I thought she was, but actually rather self-centered. I've said this before in the author's notes of the other _Ozian Adventures_ stories, her motivation is herself, which is why her highest moment is "Defying Gravity", when everyone is looking at her, and she even comments on that she was really seeking attention in "No Good Deed." Now she's been brought to a point where she absolutely _has_ to make a decision, either one way or another. But how will she choose?)  
**


	13. Flight of the Roc

**(AN: I might actually be able to pull this off as a longer than twenty chapter story, which is good because so far, the rest of my _Ozian Adventures_ have been annoyingly short, which belies how epic I originally viewed the story, and how I still tend to view it now. Also, that character I had originally promised _will_ appear in this chapter.)  
**

* * *

**Flight of the Roc**

Over the Nonestic Sea, the great body of water surrounding the continent of Nonestica, few things had ever crossed. So great was the sea that many believed it could not be crossed. Those in Oz scarcely believed it existed, as Oz was surrounded by a great desert of impassable sands and there were many leagues of land between those sands and the great sea. Even a bird could not stay awing for too long over so great an expanse of sea.

But the Roc was no normal bird. The size of a dragon it was, a fierce-some bird of prey and a mighty traveler. Few in Oz had ever seen one, and it, like the Nonestic Sea, was starting to pass into legend. But some still existed, in some far off corner of the world. Kirriku the Mighty, one of the great brown Rocs, was one such who lived still. Far was his aerie, yet he had flown to the ends of the earth and back, those of the lesser creatures who knew him rumored. Few friends had he of those who went on two feet, but the closest of those friends was Evemar Kloxolk, the clockwork man of Ev. It was he who had born him across the sea to the land of Maaptia, far in the east, and now he was making that voyage once again.

A day and one night it took for the great bird to cross the vast ocean, but on the morning's light, the sight of Maaptia's coast could be seen. The dry, flat lower lands appeared first, arid and seemingly lifeless. To the north-west lay the lands of the King, green and fertile. But he came instead to the edge of the desert, to the town of Meraburg: south of the mountains and the desert, east of the river. At his coming, all fled in fear and hid themselves within their houses. But one door was opened, and from that door, one figure hobbled out to greet his friend.

"Hail, mighty Kirriku!" Evemar Kloxolk greeted. "It's been too long!"

"Almost a year has passed since our last parting," said the giant Roc. "Long and far have I flown, but I have not forgotten the one who saved my life."

"What brings you here?"

"I bring word from the one called Glinda the Good," the Roc said. "She told me that I would find you here, she told me that I must speak with you and with the others."

At these words, Kloxolk hobbled back through the door and reappeared with his comrades behind him. Fiyero stood there, with Nessarose at his side, holding baby Liir in her arms. Standing at Kloxolk's side was Boq, who looked in terror at the giant bird.

"These are my friends," said the Evian. "They would hear the words you say as well, for you said that you must speak with them also."

"Friends of Glinda the Good," began Kirriku. "I bring messages from the good sorceress. Oz is in peril, she requests that I bear you from this place and carry you over the sea, back to the Land of Oz."

"Back to Oz!" exclaimed Boq.

"But what will happen?" Fiyero asked. "Why have we been asked to return? I thought she would have come to us."

"Danger awaits in Oz," the Roc said. "She has been waylaid."

"Well, why should we leave, then?" he continued. "We have a child, and we can't be sending him into danger."

"But there is danger enough here in Meraburg," Kloxolk said.

"That cannot be helped," the Roc said. "The fledgling must come with you. He is safest with his father and aunt in this dark hour."

"I'm going!" Boq said. "I've been away from Oz for too long. I want to go back home!"

"I suppose it is high time we were up and about," Fiyero stated. "But what about Elphaba?"

"Fiyero, stop."

"I won't!" he insisted. "What if she comes back? We should wait here for her."

"She awaits you in Oz," said Kirriku.

"Do you hear that?" exclaimed Fiyero. "She's back in Oz! Maybe it's safe for us to return!"

"But we can't all go back!" Nessa interjected.

"Why not?" Boq and Fiyero asked.

"I don't think we could all fit on his back," she said. "Especially carrying baby Liir."

"There is no need," the Roc replied. "I shall seize a house in my talons and carry you all safely inside."

The bird flapped his great wings, nearly knocking the tiny humans down to the ground by the great gale that was stirred up by his beating wings. He was now airborne and flew over to a nearby house that had been abandoned many a year. His great eagle's talons seized the roof of the house, gripping through the tiles and imbedding into the beams of the house.

"Climb aboard!" Kirriku said. "We shall cross Oz and make such a journey that your people shall make songs about for a hundred years to come!"

They looked at each other for a moment, fearful if this house was indeed safe to walk inside. They tried to debate for a while, shouting over the flapping of Kirriku's wings.

"Do you think it's safe?" asked Nessa.

"I don't know," Boq stammered. "B-But I wish there were another way!"

"Me too," added Fiyero. "What if something happens to Liir?"

"It would take too long for Kirriku to carry us back to Oz one by one," Kloxolk said. "This, I see, is our only way."

"Besides," added Fiyero. "We've been too long away from Elphaba and Glinda. It's high time we return to Oz and see what has become of them."

One by one, they nodded in agreement and made their way over from the entrance of Oppman's garage and climbed into the old house. With a beat of Kirriku's wings, every board of the house creaked and groaned. They feared that it would break upon them, or that it would break while they were in the air. The house heaved and suddenly they felt suddenly lighter and could hear the heavy beating of Kirriku's wings. Boq walked out to the door and looked down at Meraburg below, then jumped back in fright. They were indeed flying through the air.

"Best get comfortable, humans!" Kirriku said. "By dawn, we shall see the shores of Nonestica and a little while longer, we shall be in Oz once again!"

* * *

**(AN: Kind of had trouble making this chapter. My OCs seem to be really dull and unappealing, so I kind of had to fight to get this in. But it works for the dramatic tension and for the rest of the story. Also, you may be wondering why they don't know that Elphaba had died. I remind you that ONLY Glinda saw that happen and she decided not to tell them. So they're as much in the dark as Elphaba was at the beginning.)**


	14. Freedom and Justice

**(AN: Well, between preparing for finals and getting ignored by these damn hipsters [what, is kindness too mainstream for you?], I've got just enough time to start working on these chapters and setting everything up for the conclusion of [my part in] the _Ozian Adventures_.)  
**

**(Aside from the original stuff that will appear, I'm also going to be researching _The Marvelous Land of Oz_ again [hint to what may happen in the end], as well as incorporating some events from the cartoon _Return to Oz_ [not the movie, because that is an amalgam of _The Marvelo__us Land of Oz_ and _Ozma of Oz_], as well as _Out of Oz_, while keeping in mind that some details need to be rewritten for a musical-setting [so no child sex or bestiality].)  
**

* * *

**Freedom and Justice**

A pair of dark cloaks approached the Emerald City, hoods thrown down to conceal their faces. But even from where they stood, they saw that something was wrong. The tall structures of the City of Emeralds shone and glimmered no more, the green light had gone out. Even as they approached the southern gate, pejoratively called the Munchkin Mouse-hole, they saw that all was not well within the City. The gate had been thrown down and beyond they could see the city beyond, seemingly dead. The town was strangely dull and they saw also that many of the emeralds were gone, torn out of their fixtures and thrown upon the ground or missing all together.

But as they passed through the gates of the City, a roar was heard, louder than the roar of a dragon, like a sea of a thousand lapping tongues. They ducked quickly into a dark alley and watched as a sea of angry people passed by, shouting and chanting angrily. They bore torches, pitchforks, hoes, hammers and crowbars and other such tools as weapons. They seemed to be going somewhere and, in curiosity, they joined the fray at the end of the mob and followed them about as they walked down the streets. As they went, they saw that more and more people were joining the mob and, ever and anon, they would stop, break down a door, rush into the building, and drag out people kicking and screaming. Most were old or middle-aged, but some were young, some even very young, the age of childhood. They were well-dressed, it seemed, more so than the people of the mob, but they seemed fear-stricken and terrified.

At last, street by street, house-raid by house-raid, the mob made their way slowly towards the gates of the Emerald Palace. The doors had been thrown down and Omby Amby, the guard with the bright orange whiskers, was nowhere to be found. Instead, the black-clad Freedom squad guarded the door like an impenetrable wall of metal and spears. The mob shouted and chanted, and then there was a violet light flashing behind the ranks of the Freedom squad. They parted and out walked Galinda, dressed in black, with a sneer on her face as she came before the mob.

"What do you bring before me today?" she said.

"This one!" one of the crowd shouted, throwing forward a tall, thin and lanky woman with a bony face and dark hair.

"What is her crime?" Galinda asked.

"She's rich, she is!" shouted another. "There were a good many precious things in her house."

"Those were in my family for generations!" exclaimed the tall woman. "Please, I don't mean any harm! I'm a loyal subject of Oz, all of the Minkos clan have been!"

"You're rich," Galinda said. "That makes you guilty." She then turned to the crowds. "Kill her."

There was a sudden gunshot and the Minkos woman fell to the floor, dead. As if that were not enough, several in the crowd grabbed their clubs and started beating her dead body. Others shouted that she should be hung up by the gate of the City for a terror to all the rich, but there was some debate over what should be done and a fight broke out among the mob. Meanwhile, the poor woman's body was being torn to pieces by the arguing mob.

"If that is all you have..." Galinda said over the mob.

"No, there's more!" one added. Two people, a Ferret and an old woman, were then unceremoniously thrown to the lowest step of the palace, at Galinda's feet.

"Wait," Galinda held up her hand, then approached the old woman. "Tell me, crone, what have you done?"

"Why, nothing, your Ladyship!"

"She's wealthy!" one of the mob shouted. "She deserves to die."

"What, is that a crime now?" the old woman asked perplexedly.

"Of course it is," Galinda returned. "All the rich are thieves and murderers, enemies of freedom."

"I'm not a murderer!" the old woman protested. "Why, yes, I'm rich, but that's because my husband was an Emerald prospector in the Glikkus, Lurline rest his soul."

"And a pagan at that!" shouted Galinda. "Your life is already forfeit."

"No, please, spare me!" the old woman begged. "I gave charity, I even ran an orphanage for the youngsters in Tenniken."

"Irrelevant!" Galinda said. She raised her hand, shimmering with violet light, and smote the old woman to the ground. She did not rise.

"And what do you say?" she asked the mob, gesturing to the Ferret.

"Kill him! He's not one of us!"

"He's a freak! His kind stole our water during the Drought!"

"Death to what goes on four legs!"

"You heard them, ferret," Galinda said to the poor, shivering Animal.

"Please, spare me, my lady!" the Ferret begged. "I'm a poor Ferret, trying to make a living for my children!"

"Silence!" growled Galinda. She then turned to her Freedom squad and nodded vigorously at the Ferret. They descended upon him in a fury, beating him with their spears and shouting insults at him while they did. Some also kicked him and stomped his face in with their heavy boots.

"Animals should be seen and not heard," Galinda said to the crowd. "They are part of the old ways, the enemies of free thought and free will. Freedom prevails! No Ozma, no Lurline, no Wizard, no witches, no gods: we are free!"

"We are free!" chanted the mob.

On and on the mob chanted, while the two hooded figures slowly made their departure. They walked on, seeing all around them the price of 'freedom.' Many buildings had broken windows and appeared to have been looted, with their things strewn about the streets, all the valuables stripped and seized. Other buildings had been burned all together, and there were black circles on the streets, filled with ashes and graying bones and half-burned pages. The figures dared not guess what had happened in those circles.

The two figures came at last to one sight that looked as though it was still kept in good repair. As they walked through the ashes of a Unionist church, they saw a tall tower that stood apart from the Emerald Palace. Though neither of them had ever been there personally, they wondered that it was separate from the palace proper. Nevertheless, they approached the iron gate which, to their surprise, they found unlocked and unguarded. Behind the iron gate, inlaid with the Z-within-the-O, the symbol of Oz, they saw a narrow stairwell that descended down into the dark and gloom.

At the sight of the gloom, one of the cloaked figures, who had remained hunched over this whole time, was shivering and shaking, averting their hood from the entrance of that place.

"We have to," the taller one said, speaking with a woman's voice, soft and friendly. "For her."

The other figure said nothing, but turned towards the entrance and slowly walked towards the gloom, keeping a gloved hand tightly wrapped in the fingers of the hooded and cloak's woman's gloved hand.

* * *

Thus came they to the Southstairs, the dreadful prison of the Emerald City. Here light died, here the soul was destroyed in the gloom: here was the worst place in all of Oz, even as Middle Earth had Mordor and the Other world had Sheol. Built over a great cave that had been found beneath Ozma Town in the days of the Ozmas, it was converted into a dungeon of the worst kind. Here there was eternal darkness, in day as well as in night. Here the darkness could be felt; those who were brought down here died of long, painful starvation, or, if they were not lucky enough, were brought back out into the world, blinking like troglodytes, broken in body and spirit and unable to live as they had once lived before.

Bad it enough it would be were this place alone and dark, but there were constantly the sighs, cries and moans of the dying, the skittering of the rats among the floor and the flapping of wings all about their heads. Disease was carried here easily, and one touch from the hand of a jailor could just as well mean a painful death as twenty years of starvation.

For any, a journey into this hell was the worst thing they could possibly imagine. But for the hooded one, who was afraid of the dark, it was worse. One cannot rightly describe how awful it felt unless they knew it themselves. It was like being trapped in a barrel at night that was then thrown into the depths of the sea. There was no escape, only death on all sides. The air hot and stuffy, the walls closing in all about you, no light of sun or moon. Even worse was the knowledge that you were not fully alone, that something else was out there that would bring you harm and death: a swift and painless death being the least likely.

The silence was then broken by a wretched sound, that was somewhere between a laugh and a hideous, retching cough.

"Hello, dearie!" a sickly-sweet voice said to the hooded figures from out of the gloom. The tallest one turned about, quaking in fear at the voice from the dark. "Oh, what's the matter? Did I scare the little witches?" The voice laughed, but then broke down into a hacking cough.

"You're still alive?" marveled the young woman.

"One year is not enough to kill Madam Morrible," the old voice replied. "But it's doing its best. Oh, to rot in this hell-hole! I had it all in my hands, all of Oz was at my command. But you, you little blond b*tch, you took it all from me!" She cackled. "At least the animals had their revenge on me. Yes, they did."

The young woman turned to the taller hooded figure, who was still shaking violently, unnerved by the wretched voice in the dark. With her arm around the other one's shoulder, they continued on into the darkness, until Madam Morrible's mocking laughter was nothing more than an echo, a hideous rumor on the walls of the dungeons.

On and on they went, until it seemed that they had left light and the outside world behind all together, or, perhaps, that light never existed to begin with, and that the world lay in eternal night. Thus they walked, further and further into the depths of the earth, until they were deeper than they had ever been in their entire history in Oz. The hot and stuffy dungeon halls now became cold and clammy, and there was even less light than there had been before. Here the cries were the most distant: near at hand, there were no cries for everyone in the cells had died. So many had died already that the cells had been swept clean and the bones were left to rot on the floor of the halls.

At last, they came to a cell where they heard someone breathing and sobbing quietly. A voice whispered "_Incendo_" and a tongue of fire appeared hovering in the hand of the hunched figure, hooded and cloaked in black, who was now standing taller than the young woman.

"Come back to torture me again?" a woman's voice said, speaking to whom she believed were the jailors.

"It's me, Glinda," the tall figure said, throwing back the hood so Glinda could see the face. Dimly lit in the light of the fire, it looked orange by its glow, but there were just enough features to make out, even for one starved of light, food, water and comfort for a whole, miserable week.

"Elphie?" Glinda asked.

* * *

**(AN: When I read _Son of a Witch_, I imagined the Southstairs as the worst possible place one could go to in Oz. I mean, it was like the Bastille in Mordor, or Doubting Castle from _Pilgrim's Progress_, so I tried to get that out as much as possible.)**

**(And I couldn't resist having a cameo from Madam Morrible, since she is here in the Southstairs. I don't know who to envision as her, because almost all of the Madam Morrible actresses I've heard of are good [there is one exception, but I shan't name names]. Obviously, however, I wouldn't think of Carole Shelley, as she seems more like the regal, powerful Madam Morrible than the debased, insane one locked away in the Southstairs. But if you can imagine her as such, well, then, by all means.)  
**

**(Well, what do you know, Elphaba decided to rescue Glinda. Don't forget to review [please])  
**


	15. Elphaba's Plan

**(AN: I hope you caught the kind of reversal of the roles. In the first ten chapters, we saw Glinda taking the lead and rescuing Elphaba, and now the wheels have turned and Elphaba is rescuing Glinda. But there are things that must needs be revealed, which you shall soon see.)  
**

* * *

**Elphaba's Plan**

"Yes, it's me," Elphaba said, pushing as close to the wooden door as she could, peering into the cell in which her friend inhabited.

"You wicked thing," Glinda returned. "Waiting a whole week to rescue me."

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" the green woman replied. "Now, let's get you out of this cell."

"You need the key," Glinda said.

"No, I don't," Elphaba returned. She took a step back, then threw the fire-ball out of her hand, where it struck the lock, melting it almost instantly. The door easily swung open and the green-skinned woman entered the cell. Quickly, she summoned another fire-ball and noticed just how hideous Glinda's prison really was: the straw was filthy and crawled with vermin, while the stones about it were filthy and covered in excrement and decades of bones.

"This is awful," she said at last. "Why did she place you here?"

"I don't know," Glinda suddenly broke down. "She-She had me tortured! Not for any information, or because I had something she wanted, just...for fun."

"Why?"

"She said she was going to assimilate me," Glinda sobbed hysterically. "She said...that I should suffer first, before the end."

"Well, she was wrong about two things, then," Elphaba said. "You're coming with me, for one."

"And the other?"

"She didn't reckon me as a threat," Elphaba added. "She was gravely mistaken."

"She told me that even if you did come, you couldn't stop her."

"Uh, haven't you thought that maybe she was lying?"

"No, I don't think so," Glinda shook her head, finally quieting down. "But still, you shouldn't have come for me. Galinda wants you dead. She's banned all magic in Oz, except for her and her 'freedom' squad bullies."

"I think we're deep enough to escape her notice," Elphaba said. "But you shouldn't make such a fuss over her. Once we're out of here, we'll leave Oz for good."

"No, I can't leave!" Glinda retorted. "Not when all of Oz is counting on me to save them."

"Save them from what?" laughed Elphaba. "You know, I might not have had a plan for what I would do if I ever won my battle with the Wizard, but I've seen what Galinda is doing, and she's got it right."

"Elphaba Thropp, how could you!" Glinda cried, her voice echoing off every surface and booming on the walls of the dungeon. "She's killing innocent people, people who were just trying to live!"

"She was executing rich people," Elphaba said. "That should be done, and their wealth be given to help the poor and the Animals."

"What about my parents, Elphie?"

"What about them?"

"The Uplands are rather rich, in case you forgot," Glinda began, her voice full of emotion. "What if _they_ were going to be killed by that mean, hateful Galinda? Would you still say that she's doing the right thing by killing Momsy and Popsicle?"

"Yes," Elphaba nodded. "Even if it were my own father: they both deserve it."

"But she's hurting Animals!"

"I never really cared about them,"

"I don't believe you!" Glinda retorted. "This isn't the same Elphaba Thropp who gave up on her dreams of working with the Wizard when she found out he was demonizing them. Listen, Elphie, whatever you may feel against the people of Oz for all the terrible things they did to you, it's not fair to let them pay the penalty. This isn't right, what they're doing: Galinda's freedom bullies and their lynch mobs. They're just killing whoever they don't like, and it's not always the rich. They haul in the poor, the sick, the Animals, practically anyone who gets in their way. I can't live with that. Can you, Elphie? Can you live in a place where the weak are oppressed by the strong?"

"But that was the Oz we left," Elphaba said. "That was exactly the way it was before."

"But the weak had a fighting chance, because of us," Glinda replied. "We can do that for them, hmm? Give them hope again."

"I don't believe in hope," Elphaba retorted. "And since when did you care about anyone but yourself?"

"When you left Oz," Glinda began. "I thought you were dead, and so I made a promise, to myself and to all of Oz, to live up to my name. To be Glinda the Good. Not for myself, but for them and for your memory. That's why I cared, Elphaba Thropp, and that's why I still care. Because they need us."

There was silence in the dungeons once again. The second hooded figure remained silent until called upon, while Elphaba Thropp hung her head.

"I met the other Glinda," she said at last. "She told me that you told her that I had died."

"Yes," Glinda nodded. "You died, but I brought you back out of the darkness."

"Why?" Elphaba asked. "I might have been better off dead, so she says."

"Elphie!"

"Why did you bring me back?"

"Because you were worth it," Glinda said. "Elphaba, you are mean to me, to Fiyero, to your sister, to a lot of people, you think only about yourself, you look really frightening when you're angry, and you became a monster. But I brought you back, and if I had the chance, I would do it again, in spite of all that you've done."

Elphaba was stunned silent. She did not know how to respond to this. Fiyero had given his life for her when she had been kidnapped in Center Munch, but that was because he loved her. Glinda knew that she was rotten, but she saved her in spite of this. She saved her from the darkness...the darkness. Would she ever be rid of her fear of the dark? She recalled never being so afraid of it as she was now. Her eyes frequently moved to the fire-ball in her hand, fearing that it would go out at any moment. As she looked at it, she suddenly realized that Glinda risked all, passing through the darkness without a single light...and for her.

"Elphie?"

"Come on, let's get you out of here," she said, walking towards Glinda and examining her. Heavy iron shackles lay upon her wrists, tied to the wall.

"But what if she finds out I'm gone?" Glinda asked.

"She won't," Elphaba shook her head. "The prison wasn't guarded."

"Why isn't it guarded?"

"Your red-headed duplicate told me that Galinda had a tapestry that showed her everything that went on in Oz," Elphaba said. "An invasion of privacy, to be sure, but she's probably watching what we're doing. Hopefully the darkness of this place will keep us hidden, if only for a little while."

"But she'll come back," Glinda said while Elphaba began examining the old, rusty lock. "Her torturers will come back for me, and what will they do when I'm not here?"

"Ah, but you won't be here and yet you _will_ be."

"Huh?"

Elphaba then turned to the other hooded figure and waved her over. Once she was within the light of the fire-ball, she tossed back her hood and Glinda cried out as she saw just who it was.

"B-But that's-that's-that's..." she stammered.

"She's you," Elphaba said.

"But how did you do that?" Glinda finally gathered herself together long enough to string more than two words together. "I mean, she was dead! Buried beneath the Cloister of St. Glinda!"

"Not anymore," Elphaba shook her head. "I broke in and found her crypt. But when I touched her body, something happened."

"I assimilated her memories of you," the duplicate Glinda said. "It brought this body back to life."

"I never would have believed it," Elphaba said. "But one minute I'm looking at a perfectly preserved corpse, the next she's a living, breath copy of you."

"Elphaba, how could you!" exclaimed Glinda in horror. "Breaking into a crypt like that. And have you even thought about her?"

"What about her?"

"She might just be a duplicate of me," Glinda said. "But she's still a person, and she's going to be suffering every moment I'm free. I can't allow that to happen."

"Excuse me?" the duplicate spoke up. Both Elphaba and the real Glinda turned to her. "I've made my decision: I want to help. I know the risks, Glinda. I gave my life to help Elphaba once."

"But what if she kills you?"

"I'm not afraid to die."

"Oh, you brave thing!" Glinda strained at her chains, as though she would hug her, but the duplicate stepped back.

"Come on, now," Elphaba said, removing a bobby pin from her hair. "Let's get you out of here."

* * *

**(AN: Rather short, and close to appearing iffy in regards to just how powerful death is. But the duplicate Glinda won't survive long. Eventually she does get found out and, well, you can guess that Galinda would not be too happy about it. Also, the full story of Elphaba's rescue from Sheol is being saved till the very end. One reason is that I could not, for the life of me, come up with a good reveal for that which felt original and interesting, rather than boring and typical. It just feels so fake, everything I've tried to bring up.)**

**(And while it might feel like foolishness not to have her prison guarded, Galinda thinks she's safe. After all, Elphaba cannot harm her and with her tapestry, she can see everything that goes on in Oz. Also, with magic outlawed, any magic users are killed almost instantly once her Freedom squads find them.)  
**


	16. A Conspiracy Unmasked

**(AN: Apart from what we see in this story, I've also got another Oz-series tale to re-tell. Let me point out that this is my own timeline, the _Ozian Adventures_ series, and while it is influenced heavily by the _Wicked_ years and the Oz-series, it is my own story and certain events might be altered thusly.)  
**

**(One thing I had to do was find out how to...well, you'll see.)  
**

* * *

**A Conspiracy Unmasked**

Elphaba and the real Glinda were now making their way through the darkness of the Southstairs, with no light to guide them but the fire-ball in Elphaba's hand. Its light, however, was so small that it only illuminated the way just a little before them. If they stretched their arms outward, their hands disappeared into the darkness. While Glinda was unsteady and weary on her feet, she held Elphaba's open hand in her own. She knew just how terrified Elphaba must be, even if she was trying to act tough and invincible. She was afraid of the dark, but she would not have to endure the darkness alone, not with Glinda Upland at her side.

"Careful, Elphie," she said.

"I've been this way already," Elphaba replied. "You be careful. There's so many bones lying on the floor, you could trip and hurt yourself at any moment."

Once more they continued in silence, their footsteps the only sound in this dark dungeon. Then the sounds of the dying were heard, and Glinda's heart froze. She had heard those voices when she came down this way first, but to hear them again was no better. It made her want to cry, to scream, to curl up into a ball and weep herself to sleep, crying out for Momsy and Popsicle to 'make them all go away.'

"Elphie, I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know, Glinda," Elphaba admitted. "The Southstairs remind me vividly of the dungeons of Barad-dur. I'm..."

"What?"

"I'm scared too," the green woman admitted. It was the first time she had done so, admitted that she was weak in front of Glinda. Her overwhelming pride was screaming at her, telling her how stupid she was for saying so. Now Glinda would be pestering her always, trying to help her, thinking she was incapable of helping herself or something else just as needless and unhelpful. But pride be damned. They were in the depths of the earth, and she was so afraid of the dark that she could not help speaking those words.

"Don't worry, Elphie," Glinda said, squeezing Elphaba's hand. "We got out of there, somehow we'll get out of here too."

Suddenly they heard a wheezing, cackling laugh.

"Even if you do leave," the voice of Madam Morrible said. "There's no hope. When I die, the secret dies with me and Ozma will never return."

"Wait, is that Madam Fish-face?" Glinda whispered. "What did she say?"

"She's mad, let's go," Elphaba dismissed.

"Yes, yes, I'm mad!" Morrible returned. "But I was the only one close to the Wizard. I helped him get into power. I know the secret, dearies. Yes, the secret that could save Oz."

"Come on."

"Wait," Glinda turned back to the cell. "What are you talking about?"

"How the Wizard came to power, dearies," coughed Madam Morrible as she began her tale. "Mombi and I cast a concealment spell on the Wizard, which allowed him to enter a ball at the Ozma's palace. He killed Pastorius but couldn't kill his infant daughter, the fool! He gave the baby to Mombi, told her that if she wanted it dead, she would have to do it herself, that he couldn't kill a child."

"Yeah?" Elphaba, who had been listening, interjected. "Then they tossed the child into a ditch and left her to die. Come on, now, Glinda!"

"Wait!" Madam Morrible shouted, then ended with a hideous, retching cough. "Before you go, dearie, come a little bit closer. I will tell you what happened to the baby. Yes, I will tell you what happened to Ozma."

Glinda walked over to the door, hobbling and almost tripping over the many bones littering the floor. Elphaba took her hand, helping her reach the door without any difficulty. However, when Glinda pressed her ear against the door, listening to what the old head-Shiztress had to say, Elphaba turned away, totally uninterested. At last, there was a loud cackle and Glinda stumbled back, right into Elphaba's arms.

"What did you do to her?" Elphaba shouted. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth," laughed Madam Morrible.

"I swear, if you've hurt her..."

"Ha! What more can you do to me?" There was a moment of silence, and then the old crone laughed. "Aww, the witch has a soft spot for the empty-headed socialite."

"You know nothing!"

"Do I, now? Yes, dearie, you'd love everyone to think you were a strong, tough, invincible witch who cares only for herself. But I know better. Just watch yourself, dearie: your weakness will be your undoing, and there won't be any coming back _this_ time!"

Madam Morrible broke off into laughter, which died away in a hideous, retching cough. Elphaba wrapped her arm around Glinda and continued on through the darkness of the Southstairs. Immediately, however, she realized that her fire had gone out. To make matters worse, she could not bring it back: something in Madam Morrible's words had shaken her stone-cold heart and she could not bring herself back into focus to cast another spell. She came to a halt.

"Elphie, what's wrong?"

"I-I can't do it!" she breathed, but the dungeon walls made her voice much louder and it echoed off of every surface.

"Can't do what?"

"I can't go on!" the green woman continued.

"You made it this far, didn't you?"

"I had light, I-I can't go on, not like this. Not in the dark!"

"What's wrong with the dark?"

"It's-It's crawling, all over me, all around us! Can't you hear it, Glinda? The voices, the faces, skulls, thousands of skulls, leering out of the darkness!"

"Where?" Glinda asked, though she knew that there were no such things.

"Everywhere," Elphaba cried. "I know they're out there, I can feel them. I can hear his voice, _their_ voices, so many voices in my head! I feel things, they're coming closer!" Then said Elphaba three words, but they were three words that Glinda had never heard her say before: three words and they broke Glinda's heart to hear them.

"Help me, Glinda!"

"I'm here!" sobbed Glinda, squeezing Elphaba's hand tighter than ever before. "I'm not going anywhere. It's going to be alright, Elphie."

"Where are you?" Elphaba asked. "I can't see you!"

"Then feel my hand," Glinda returned, wrapping her arm around Elphaba's bony shoulder. "We'll get out of this together."

"I can't see anything," wept Elphaba. "Just darkness, a burning, impenetrable darkness."

"It's just the gloom of this awful place," Glinda said. "Come on, I think I see light."

"Where? I can't see it. We-We're never going to make it out of here alive, are we?"

"No, we're not, Elphie!" Glinda replied, biting her lip to keep from weeping. "We're going to be fine."

"I don't want to go back, Glinda!" Elphaba screamed. "I don't want to go back!"

"Elphie, listen to me," Glinda said, placing one foot in front of the other as she started walking Elphaba slowly towards where she thought she saw the light. "You're not going back, you're never going back there again. Do you hear me? I would rather die than see that happen again. But you've got to stay with me! Just a little bit more, and we'll be out of this miserable place."

"I'm so scared, Glinda!" wept Elphaba, shivering and shaking in Glinda's arms. "I've never been this scared before in my life!"

"It's okay, Elphie," Glinda replied. "Just lean on my shoulder, we'll make it through."

"Promise me you'll never let go."

"I won't..."

"Promise me, Glinda!"

"I promise, Elphie! Now come on, we're almost there."

It was impossibly slow, for Elphaba moved as though she had no control over her body, constantly shaking and shivering and sobbing uncontrollably. Once again, as on the slopes of the Ephel Duath, Glinda was forced to become strong for the both of them. And so, with the same quiet strength that had guided her through the depths of Mordor and Sheol and back, she soldiered on, until at last, her foot found the stairs. With her free hand reaching out to the side of the wall, she guided the two of them up the stairs. It would all be over soon.

At last, they saw light at the top of the stairs. Heedless of whatever might await them, Glinda cried out in joy, practically dragging Elphaba along the last steps of the way. When at last her foot reached the top stair, she stumbled as she expected there to be one step more: it was with tears of joy that she found that there were none. They had survived the horrors of the Southstairs.

* * *

**(AN: What do you think? I think that this needed to happen, in order for Elphaba to realize what Glinda had to go through when she rescued her, so that when she later finds out the rest about her rescue from Sheol, she suddenly realizes that there _are_ people who care about her, who love her so much that they would risk even death to save her. I think that might help her growing process as well. And, of course, had to make the Southstairs all that evil.)**

**(Don't forget to review!)  
**


	17. Divided Again

**(AN: What say you to thirty chapters for this story? It would be a nice send-off to the _Ozian Adventures_ series. Yes, I've been saying this for a while and I've come to the conclusion that this story will be, for now, the concluding chapter of the _Ozian Adventures_ series [unless, like L. Frank Baum, you lot send me enough reviews insisting/pleading/asking/begging me to continue, in which case I might]. It seems that I've taken it as far as I can go, and any further would just feel like a "Wagon Train" story, where it's just a series of unrelated adventures for the sake of adventuring.)  
**

* * *

**Divided Again**

The two witches were sitting with their backs to the wall of a nearby abandoned department store. They were turned away from the tower that led to the Southstairs, for they didn't even want to see it anymore, the memory was so horrible. They didn't even say anything to each other: neither wanted to relive what had been experienced below. Instead, they were busy making plans on how they would escape the Emerald City. At last it was decided that they would use Elphaba's broom and fly out of the City of Emeralds, making a feint into the West to drive off pursuit, giving any following the assumption that they would be going towards Kiamo Ko. Once they had lost said pursuit, they would go in secret back to the South: that was still the only safe place in Oz for them.

"It's a good plan, Elphie," Glinda said. "Should we go on ahead with it?"

"Maybe," Elphaba replied. "But I wonder if we should cause a commotion first."

"Why do you _want_ to cause a commotion?"

"If they know we go west, they will pursue us there," Elphaba explained. "But if we leave in secret and are caught on our way south, then the point of flying west will be for nothing."

Just then, they heard someone shouting in the distance. Elphaba looked this way and that, but while there were no signs of anyone about, they both feared that they would soon be captured. Out came the broom and she mounted it with ease, ordering Glinda to grab on to her from behind. With a cry of _Incendo_, the two took off into the sky above the City, a column of smoke billowing up below them.

"What was that for?" Glinda shouted over the roar of the mobs below.

"Now they know we're here," Elphaba said. "We can lose them faster this way."

Off they shot into the western sky, heedless of whoever might be pursuing them. Elphaba was fully focused, gripping tightly the handle of her broom and her eyes narrowed against the wind. Behind, Glinda held on for dear life, feeling fearful of the land rushing swiftly so far beneath her feet, and yet ecstatic. Here she was, doing what, four years ago, she never would have had the guts to do. Here she was, making a swift retreat from the Emerald City by broom with Elphaba; and it made her heart glad.

Beneath them, the greens of the lands about the Emerald City faded away to the golden scrub of the Vinkus, then the arid sand of the foothills. At last they flew over the Great Kells, with Kiamo Ko a black smudge on the ground. There was a sudden jerk to the left, and they continued flying, but always below the hills. Though the land around them seemed to be moving swiftly by them, and it was, they were but an hour out of the Emerald City when they reached Kumbricia's Pass from the western side. Instead of going left, which would have led them back into the middle of greater Oz, they went straight south, back into the land of the Quadlings.

* * *

Once again, the palace of Glinda the Good received an unexpected visitor, almost falling through the roof of Glinda's parlor. The red-haired duplicate made her way to the porch, where two figures dropped down from the roof. Immediately, she jumped back and squealed in joy.

"Oh, Elphie!" she exclaimed. "You saved her! You came through!"

"Sounds just like her," Elphaba sighed, annoyed by the red-haired duplicate's high-pitched squealing.

"And you," the red-haired Glinda said, turning to the real Glinda, who was dismounting from the broom. "Back again, huh? And I see you lost my gift..._again!_"

"I fell into the river," the real Glinda replied. "Gimme a break, for Oz's sake!"

Just then, they became aware of another pair of feet walking out from the parlor to meet them. Elphaba was the first one to recognize the person. She was dressed in black, with auburn hair tied back tightly behind her head. On her back was a sleeping baby, and she wore stockings that were striped white and black.

"Nessa," Elphaba said. Nessarose's expression did not change: it was unreadable by any.

"I think we should give them some alone time," whispered the red-haired Glinda to the real one.

"I think so too," Glinda replied.

For a moment, red-haired Glinda offered the real one her hand to help her up, but then drew it back when she remembered who it was to whom she was offering her hand. Elphaba instead helped the real Glinda to her feet and the two Glindas walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. Elphaba walked into the parlor, while Nessarose closed the doors to the porch behind her, keeping her eyes on Elphaba.

"It's good to see..." Elphaba began to say.

But the words were cut short as Nessarose slapped her sister across her face with her hand.

"One year," Nessarose said, her voice quivering with rage. "One whole year!"

"Nessa, what's..."

"You ran out on us!" Nessarose shouted. "You ran out on _me_ again, but worse, you ran out on Fiyero and on Liir! You're no better than Mother!"

"Nessa, don't you even dare try to blame that on me!"

"Of course it wasn't your fault!" Nessa replied. "Father only said that because he was angry at losing her. But she could have stopped him, she didn't have to chew milk-flowers. She ran out on us, Elphaba! She ran out on me, she ran out on Father and she ran out on you! You know, I never knew her but I always knew you did, and I thought you would care more: I thought you wouldn't run out on family, on those you loved." She breathed, slowly calming herself down. "I suppose I was wrong."

Elphaba didn't have anything to say to this. What Nessarose said made sense, but Elphaba was not silent because what Nessa said was logical. She was silent because, for the life of her, she couldn't remember a thing of what she was talking about. The last she remembered, she was together with them, then woke up in Glinda's arms. She didn't remember anything between then...or did she really know and truly did not _want_ to remember what happened?

"And do you know what's worse?" Nessa replied. "The one you hurt the most, the one who should be here instead, shouting you down, won't even say a word in his own defense. That's right: Fiyero loves you too much, or have you forgotten what love is?"

"Nessa, you know I've never believed in love."

"Of course you don't! Is that it, huh? Was that why it was so easy for you to just up and leave him? Just like Boq! Now I hope you're happy, he's paid the price for his hopeless devotion to you!"

"Is he...?"

"No," Nessarose began, slumping down on a chair nearby. "But it's just as bad as being dead. Just three days ago, we were all flown away from Maaptia in a house carried up in the talons of a Roc, I think he was a friend of Kloxolk's. We landed in Munchkinland, but were almost immediately attacked by these soldiers in black: they called themselves Galinda's Freedom squads. Kloxolk stood his ground to defend us, but they got to him first. They must have thought it was fun to toy with him, so they ripped off his clockwork parts - his arm, his leg, his eye - and left him crawling on the ground, where they kicked his body until they grew bored and left. There were too many and we had no weapons, or we would have done something.

"Instead, they turned on us and we fled. They caught up to Fiyero first. He turned into a straw scarecrow when we passed over the Desert, and was very clumsy on his feet. They caught him and tore him to pieces, taking out of all of his straw and burning it before his eyes. Now he's just a pile of clothes and a painted face somewhere in a cornfield."

Elphaba was stone silent, no sign of emotion on her face. Nessarose, meanwhile, would not look at her sister's face. She could hear no tears and that was enough: she was starting to grow furious with her sister's callousness.

"Boq and I were the only ones left," she continued. "He fell into..."

"Wait, Boq is with you?"

"I told you that Fiyero is as good as dead," Nessa retorted. "And all you can say is 'Boq is with you?'" She rose from her seat and lunged at Elphaba, slapping and punching every inch of her older sister her fists could find. Elphaba seized her sister's hands, holding them away from each other.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We were in a fog," Nessa replied, tears forming in her eyes. "I heard him call out to someone, and then...I heard a voice. Before I could find him, Boq had fallen into the Munchkin River. He's in his tin body, so he sank to the bottom and was rusted almost instantly!" Nessarose broke into tears, burying her face in Elphaba's bosom, regardless of how much she hated her sister for her crass callousness. She hated being alone, and now, there was only her sister: she would have that, if she could have nothing else.

* * *

**(AN: Well well, things are definitely getting interesting. Nessarose, as you can see, is not very happy with Elphaba. As you recall in _The Land_, Elphaba pretty much did walk out on them, and she, Nessa, had to nurse Liir and take care of him all by herself [obviously, Fiyero could not]. And she's had more time to think and grow and mature. And if you've ever had to take care of children, you would know what kind of a handful that is and how much you could come to resent someone whom [you think] is perfectly capable of doing it themselves but just up and left without an explanation.)**


	18. The Witch's Dinner

**(AN: I don't think we'll be able to do thirty chapters. Maybe twenty-five or more, but still, this will have a good deal of input and thought...put...into...it [lol]).  
**

**(On some merry notes, I recently sang "Wonderful" for my college's voice recital. It was...well, wonderful [lol]. And my four-year-old nephew, whenever he hears the word 'witch', will exclaim happily 'A weesh!' And that came to mind when I was writing, lol. Okay, back to the story now!)  
**

* * *

**The Witch's Dinner  
**

Nightfall in Quadling. The marsh creatures were warbling away, serenading the red-skinned Quadlings as they had for generations beyond count, before ever any from 'greater' Oz came south. In the floating palace of Glinda the Good, most of the servants had been dismissed, permitted to lay out under the stars and listen to the warbling of the creatures of the swamps: a kind of reminder of the beauty and life and serenity that was being threatened by Galinda, what they were 'fighting' for.

Inside the palace, red-haired Glinda the Good operated on a skeleton staff of one cook and one maid who served as a butler. Dinner was being served for her and her guests: the real Glinda Upland, Nessarose Thropp, Liir Tiggular and Elphaba Thropp. They sat at the long table in the same dining room the two Glindas had entertained each other when the real Glinda returned to Oz from her time with the Swords. While dinner was being prepared, which promised to be a while since Glinda was operating with almost no servants, the women talked amongst themselves.

"So," Elphaba began. "You and the swamp-people are on the run, and yet you live in this fancy palace, have servants and can afford such lavish dinners for us."

"Please, Elphie," dismissed the red-haired Glinda. "_I_ am the one on the run, not the Quadlings. They were nice enough to accept me as their protector and I magicked this palace just as a little friendly reminder of home and the comforts I've left behind."

"Seems like you haven't really left them behind," Elphaba said sarcastically. "But what about your servants?"

"I pay them."

"With what?" asked Elphaba.

"Well," began the red-haired Glinda. "Money doesn't technically exist anymore. Galinda broke into the Royal Bank in the Emerald City and had all the gold melted down and sent away. Either she's hoarding it all to herself, or..."

"Or what?"

"There are rumors," the red-head said fearfully. "Of Nomes living beneath the earth. It has also been rumored that Galinda gave all of the gold to the Nomes as some kind of tribute."

"Hmm, have you ever _seen_ a Nome before?" Glinda the red-haired shook her head no. "Then how do you know they exist, or even that she is doing this?"

"Rumors and speculation are all we have," she replied. "If I don't pay attention to the innuendo and outuendo, sooner or later I end up paying for that mistake."

"Whatever," Elphaba rolled her eyes. "How do you pay your servants?"

"I reward them based on the quality of their service," red-haired Glinda said. "They receive longer breaks from work, lighter work-loads and, of course, food from my own table."

"And how come you have so much?" asked Elphaba again.

"It might not be Munchkinland, Elphie, but the marshes have their own food stuffs," Glinda the red-head said. "There never seems to be an end to all the fruits and veggies they have here."

"I can't wait!" the real Glinda moaned, eying her empty plate. "I'm so hungry!"

"Me too," added Nessarose.

"Patience," said Glinda the red-haired. "There will be time enough to have food to your fill once they're done."

"Sure is taking an awful long time, isn't it?" Elphaba complained.

"I let the cooks take the day off," red-haired Glinda said.

"You certainly are inefficient as a potentate," Elphaba sneered. "No wonder Galinda wrested power from you so easily."

"That is unfair, Elphie!" red-haired Glinda interjected, banging her fist on the table. "These people live in constant fear that Galinda will one day come to Quadling and make their lives as horrible as she has made the lives of the Munchkins and the Gilikins. I let them have days off so they can appreciate what they have here: home, family, food, warmth, shelter, friends, a beautiful land, and freedom!"

"They would just take advantage of your misguided kindness," the green woman retorted.

"Sweet Oz, Elphie, are you always this difficult?!" exclaimed the red-haired Glinda.

"She's actually much worse," Nessarose added. "You should have seen her growing up. Oh, it was a nightmare!"

"Nessa, I'm warning you!" Elphaba threatened. At this, Nessarose laughed. Both Glindas looked at each other in realization that this was the first time they had heard Nessarose laugh: truly laugh, heart-felt and merry. The two Glindas smiled identically at how happy Nessarose was: if only Elphaba could have been as much as well.

Shortly then the food was brought up, and generous portions were heaped onto their plates. Typically, Elphaba touched nothing while the real Glinda and Nessarose ate hungrily: no boys to act prim and proper for, so they were at least a little more 'ravenous' than they would be in public. Glinda the red-haired simply looked at them awkwardly and continued eating.

"See? This is good," she said. "We're all eating, having fun." She then looked down the table at Elphaba. "Elphie, eat something! That's what it's there for."

"I'm not hungry," Elphaba replied.

"Oh, leave her alone," the real Glinda replied, half-way through a bite of vegetable pie. "She's just being grumpy."

"You need to stop sticking up for her!" red-haired Glinda ordered, punctuating her statement by pointing her fork in the direction of the real Glinda. "She's only taking advantage of your kindness and understanding."

"If I push, she'll just push harder," Glinda said, swallowing her food down.

"Still, this is ridiculous!" exclaimed red-haired Glinda. "If you keep giving her her way, she's just going to go on hurting you."

"Oh, please!" dismissed Elphaba with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms.

"You, shush!" red-haired Glinda snapped, then turned to Glinda. "You know I'm telling the truth."

"She has to learn it on her own," the real Glinda replied. "I did, and she has to as well."

"Give me a break!" Elphaba placed her hand on her face and laughed. "I can't believe how full of yourselves you two are!"

"Full of ourselves!" both Glindas shouted.

"Elphaba, I don't think you have anywhere to talk about being full of oneself!" the real one began. "You pretty much threw all caution to the wind, gave up on Fifi, Nessa, Liir and myself just to continue your quest for power."

"I've never wanted power." Elphaba smirked self-confidently.

"Oh, you little liar!" growled the red-haired Glinda.

"Shut up, all of you!" Nessa spoke. "Listen, I think what we need to do is put our differences aside and work together to bring an end to Galinda's reign of terror."

"Fine," Elphaba crossed her arms again. "I'll stop as soon as they do."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," red-haired Glinda said, rubbing her temples in annoyance. "Now, Glinda, I remember you said something about old Mombi?"

"Yes," the real Glinda began. "She's called different names: Old Mombi, La Mombey, the Wicked Witch of the North by a scant few, but she's still the same. All the children's stories warned us about staying away from her cottage. That was the one Madam Morrible mentioned."

"Oh, you don't actually _believe_ that Ozma's still alive, do you?" Elphaba sneered.

"Yes, we do," Glinda replied, shaking her head as Elphaba began laughing in derision. "Anyway, one of the old folk-tales about her said that she could change her form whenever she wished."

"That's just a fairy tale," Elphaba said. "Something Gilikinese parents tell their kids to teach them not to talk to strangers."

"Still, Madam Fish-face said something about her," Glinda said. "And I don't think she would give any stock to fairy tales if they weren't real."

"That old b*tch is insane," Elphaba replied. "Anyone would go insane...down there..." At that, Elphaba suddenly clammed up: no more rude remarks, mocking, derisive laughter or anything pejoratives thrown at the plotting witches. The memory of the darkness and the coming of night around them made her quake with fear and silence her mocking.

"We need to find her," Glinda said.

"I say we should raise an army and take the Emerald City back by force!" red-haired Glinda insisted.

"That's not going to work," the real Glinda shook her head. "Galinda's more than just a tyrant, exerting her will arbitrarily over the people of Oz, no. They _love_ her. They think that she's really giving them freedom and justice. Anyone who says anything against her is killed or, if they manage to get away, as you did, they get themselves put on the list of public enemies. I don't think big armies will do anything except prove her right: that we're the bad guys, that we want to overthrow their 'goddess of freedom' and establish a military rule."

"But that's what she's done!"

"But they don't believe that," Glinda replied. "I believe the only thing that would stir the people against her would be the return of Ozma. If what Madam Fish-face told me is true, and I hope it is, the return of Oz's true leader in peace would prove that she is not an enemy, or at least make her more acceptable. It would take time, and lots of hard work, but we could make her acceptable to everyone and then, then..."

"Then what?" red-haired Glinda asked.

"Then she takes the throne of Oz," the real Glinda stated slowly, as though coming upon a profound epiphany of some great moment. "And she'll begin work to right the wrongs and mend the hurts. No one will ever die, and we will have peace again."

"But that's still rather far off, you know," red-haired Glinda stated.

"And," Nessarose spoke up, drawing all eyes towards her. "Well, I was just going to say that if Galinda is as powerful as you say she is, I don't think she'll want to just hand over power once Ozma shows up again. She's a powerful sorceress in her own right, so you've sad."

"Then we should..." the real Glinda sighed. "Remove her from power."

"But how can we do that without an army?" red-haired Glinda asked.

"We did more than that just a few months ago," the real Glinda continued. "There were just nine of us when we went out to seek the Sword, and we destroyed it." She cast a glance over at the fear-stricken Elphaba, then hung her head. "Yes, _I_ did it, but I couldn't have done it without their help. I think, like that, a small group with stealth could succeed where a large army would fail." She then turned her eyes to Elphaba, who was still sitting at the far end of the table, arms crossed.

"That's why we need you."

Elphaba scoffed. "Me?"

"None of us can face Galinda," the red-haired Glinda said. "I'm just a piece of the real Glinda. If Galinda assimilated me, she would just be more powerful and have all of my memories, including every word we speak of our plans this evening."

"So why can't you do it?" Elphaba asked, turning to the real Glinda.

"Because she said she was powerful enough to assimilate me." she replied.

"Uh, did you ever consider she was lying?"

"You saw what happened!" Glinda shouted, then looked down into her lap, her next words slow and ridden with fear. "When she touched me, I got all cold...my limbs went numb, but where she touched me...it was like I was on fire! I could feel her draining me away, like..." She picked up the silver goblet on the table. "...like how someone would drain a cup." She let go of the cup, but her hand shook so much that it fell over. "I...I knew I was dying. Oh, sweet Oz! I almost died!"

"But you didn't see Galinda," Elphaba retorted. "I saw her. She was straining, as though it hurt her to hold on to you. She lied about being more powerful than you, and is just using that to make you afraid. I think you're taking this too seriously."

"I almost died, Elphie!" the real Glinda screamed. "Be thankful you don't remember how that was, because I will never forget it!"

Glinda ran out of the room, leaving the red-head and Nessarose glaring hatefully at Elphaba.

"You really need to eat," growled the red-haired Glinda with teeth set.

"I'm not hungry," Elphaba replied.

"Come on!" exclaimed Glinda. "You're so skinny, it's hard to believe what Nessa said about you _actually_ having had a baby!"

"Well, I did," Elphaba coldly said.

"But I thought, well, you would keep on a little baby fat," Glinda shrugged.

"Well, I don't see as how my weight is any of your business," Elphaba retorted, rising up from her seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to sleep."

* * *

**(AN: Thankfully, I've got it together in time for today, because today is Margaret Hamilton's 110th birthday! Not only does Megan Hilty [visual reference for Glinda prime in the _Ozian Adventures_ series] have the same initials, but she, Hamilton, also originated the role of the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 _Wizard of Oz_ film, which became the reference for Maguire's Elphaba.)**

**(I'm not just throwing fluff at you, we've actually got a plan in the making here. Just as long as Glinda [any of them] can get away from Elphaba, things will get moving. As you can see, she's being awfully unhelpful, just as before.)  
**

**(On another note, I'd like to mention that I saw the episode of Mr. Rogers where Margaret Hamilton guest starred. And, ironically, while this is obviously pre-Wicked, what Hamilton had to say about the Wicked Witch of the West made sense: either she liked what she was doing, or she never got what she wanted. Obviously, both of those work in Elphaba's situation_, _to different degrees. What do you think?)  
**


	19. Separated

**(AN: Maybe I've been listening too much to "Domino the Destitute" or waiting anxiously for Eden's new album, but I'm starting to tire of Elphaba's annoying behavior and want to just reach through the pages of this book and slap the sense back into her [and then pull my hand before she burns it off or magicks it away, lol] and make her and Glinda work together! But I'm having a difficult time making her grow up in a credible way that would be respectful towards her as a character.)  
**

**(Okay, one thing I need to remind you, and this has always bugged me but I guess it's real. At mid-day, you may have noticed [unless you live on the equator] that the sun is not directly above you, nor does it rise or set directly east or directly west. Now while Oz in the Oz-series was re-created so that west was east and east was west [so a map of Oz would have Munchkinland on the left rather than the right], Maguire did NOT have that and I'm keeping with that because, no matter which direction the planet on which lies the continent of Nonestica [and thereby the land of Oz] rotates, where the sun rises will be 'east' [even if it's "west"] and such. Now that I've fully screwed your minds over, let me add that, from the south, the sun would rise in the north-east of the sky, rather than direct east, which is why you'll see what you see.)  
**

**(Also, there is a moment that bends the pairing/shipping standard, but it does NOT break it. If anything, the love Glinda bears for Elphaba would be like such for one's twin sister, with whom she shares so much that she feels that they are one and she suffers what the other one suffers. Do you understand what I'm saying?)  
**

* * *

**Separated**

"Now," Galinda said. "You will tell me where the real Glinda went."

She was in the depths of the Southstairs dungeon, the only light the torches held by her Freedom squad that flanked her. Before her was the cell that once held Glinda. Now the duplicate was hanging there, suspended in mid-air by Galinda's magic.

"Drop dead," the other one sneered.

"You will _kindly_ tell me where the real Glinda went," Galinda repeated.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll make you dread life more than death!" replied Galinda, squeezing her outstretched hand into a fist, which suddenly sent the duplicate groping at her neck and gasping for breath. For a moment, it sounded like Glinda was going to say something, and Galinda relaxed her grip. "What was that?"

"I'm not...afraid of...you," the duplicate said in between breaths.

"I can change that," Galinda replied, opening her palm all the way. The other Glinda was thrown against the back wall of her cell and crumbled to the floor in exhaustion. Galinda turned them to her guards. "Have fun."

* * *

It was morning in the land of the Quadlings. The dawn was rising in the north-east over the Cloth Hills and the easternmost range of the Quadling Kells, the border between the Quadling country and Munchkinland. In the floating palace of Glinda the Good, a solitary figure was gathering up what food she could find in the store-room into a magically-enhanced bag. For, as it turned out, the red-haired Glinda had many such bags and sacks which were bigger on the inside. Once she was sure she had a good supply of food to last her at least into Munchkinland, she began looking about for a map of Oz. She had had far too many experiences going places without a map: _this_ time, at least, in her own native country (in her own time no less), she would know exactly where she was going.

"Just where do you think _you're_ off to?" a voice asked.

Glinda started, looked up and noticed Elphaba was leaning against the entrance into Glinda's study.

"I'm going to rescue the others," Glinda replied. "Since it's obvious you no longer care about them."

"I don't," Elphaba said. "But I never said I wasn't going."

"And why are you going?" Glinda asked.

"Because you'd die without me," Elphaba said.

"I thought you didn't believe Galinda was powerful enough to assimilate me."

"I don't, but you're so weak, you'd never last a day in the real world."

Glinda looked at Elphaba with severe sorrow and unfathomable disbelief. What Elphaba had just done was about as disrespectful as though she had spat in Glinda's face.

"I can't believe you just said that," Glinda began. "You have no idea what I've been through on your account."

"Oh, boo-hoo!" Elphaba mocked, rubbing the side of her eye with her fist in a mockery of crying.

Glinda slapped Elphaba so hard and so fast, she had not the time to recover.

"I went through hell because of you!" Glinda shouted. "I walked into Mordor, the most horrible place I've ever seen, I spent two months crossing cold, heartless lands, wracked with hunger, exhaustion, depression and anxiety, all to find you. And when I find you, do you know what happened? You tried to kill me! And I had to put you down, and then walk alone through the dark land of the dead just to bring your ungrateful ass back. Try, Elphaba, I know it's easy for you, to think about how terrible the darkness is and how dreadfully you fear it. Yeah? I had to go through that _alone_, with no light, no direction, no comfort! All to save you. Now leave me alone, I have to pack."

She left Elphaba behind, and found the map lying on a table, which she rolled up and placed in her bag. With this slung over her back, she made her way to the door that would lead her to the porch. She held out her hand and seized the handle and tried to pull it, but it would not budge. She pulled it again, but the door remained fast shut. She saw that it was not exactly locked, but the door would not open. Half-thinking that Elphaba had magicked the door shut, she turned about to confront her. Sure enough, Elphaba stood with her hand raised and one finger pointed in her direction, which slowly fell down to her side.

"You...you did that?" Elphaba asked hesitantly. "For me?"

"Yes, for you," Glinda replied.

"Even though I, you know, tried to kill..."

"Yes, Elphaba."

Elphaba was stunned by what she had heard. It had never truly sunk in just how much Glinda actually cared for her. Oftentimes she had thought that Glinda's caring was based on guilt: she had betrayed her while in Oz and felt guilty for doing so, and so helped her out of obligation.

"She said I was dead," Elphaba spoke at last. "The red-haired Glinda. She said that I was dead: you said that you had to put me down."

"The hardest decision I ever made," Glinda bemoaned, her voice heavy with emotion though her eyes wept not.

"But you were released from any obligation towards me with my death," Elphaba said.

"Yes, Elphaba."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, Elphaba," Glinda said. "Maybe not in the same way as Fiyero does, but in a different way."

* * *

Munchkinland. Once a peaceful, prosperous burg of farmers and their extended families. Only the Eminent Thropps and those traders who had grown wealthy on trade with Gilikin were very rich. But the pestilence of Galinda's rule had not spared them from chaos. Whereas Gilikin was in a rage of violence and disorder, it was even worse in Munchkinland. The fields of corn were left untended and most of the crop had rotted. The towns were not safe either.

Outside of Colwen Grounds appeared the two witches, creeping on the top of one of the structures that must have been made for Munchkinlanders. In the streets below there was the sound of revelry and chaos. Peering down from their hiding place, the two witches saw everything. The streets were deserted except for a mob that stormed in and out of houses, pulling everyone out from their houses and throwing them out into the streets. Most of those who received the worst treatment were Munchkinlanders, referred to as 'tallies' by their diminutive cousins. Furniture and expensive things were thrown out onto the streets to be looted by the mobs.

"All in mockery or imitation of Galinda," the real Glinda sobbed as she saw Munchkins and Munchkinlanders being dragged from their homes and bloodily beaten to death. "Is this what you want, Elphie? To see Oz tear itself apart?"

"It's better this way." Elphaba stated.

"Sweet Oz, Elphaba," Glinda sighed. "You're beginning to press the limits of my patience."

"That's good," Elphaba smiled.

"You know, Elphie, if you keep this up, one of these days I won't be there to hold your hand!"

"Fine by me," Elphaba retorted. "I spent three years as a fugitive without you there to hold my hand. I can get along perfectly well without you."

"Maybe I will."

"What's stopping you?"

"Elphaba!" the little blond shouted.

But that was the wrong thing to say. The mob knew they were there, and soon they heard them shouting for ladders. The two witches ran towards the edge, hoping that they might be able to find safety, but saw that the building they were on was surrounded by angry Munchkins. Without another thought, Elphaba grabbed Glinda by the hair with one hand and with the other grabbed onto the broom and the two of them took off into the air. But it was not long lasting, for suddenly they were hit by something and they both fell off the broom and crashed in the middle of a corn-field, one on top of the other.

"Get off me!" Elphaba shouted, pushing Glinda off her with both hands. "This is your fault: once again, you prove just how useless you are!"

"I'm sorry, Elphie..." a bruised Glinda sobbed.

"'I'm sorry, Elphie,'" Elphaba mocked, rubbing the corner of her eye with her fist. "Grow up already."

"Elphaba, this has gone on for far too long!" Glinda demanded, rising to her feet. "Either you grow up and get a hold of yourself, or...or..."

"Or what, huh?" Elphaba retorted. "Look, I didn't need your pity that night at the OzDust, when you used my sister! I didn't need your help in Middle Earth, I didn't need your help in Midgard and I certainly don't need your help now. So why don't you take your self-righteous snobbery and hide, cuz you're not gonna last long in this chaos and I'm sick of hauling your ass around! Leave! Don't ever let me catch you following me again, or I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!"

For a moment, there was dead silence between the two of them. Glinda didn't cry and she didn't shout: she just stood there, staring at Elphaba with a kind of silent disbelief. If this was indeed what Elphaba wanted, she would not have any qualms complying with her wishes. But this, it just seemed all too much.

"Yeah, you heard me," Elphaba replied. "You've been nothing but a burden on me, on Fiyero, on everyone you come in contact with! And I never want to see your pathetic little face again for as long as I live."

With that, Elphaba turned about and fled once again into the corn-field. She ran and she ran and she kept on running, as she had been doing non-stop for years. Running felt good, it was easier and never hurt anyone important: namely, it never hurt herself. Suddenly, a strong hand made contact with her stomach and Elphaba was thrown face-first into the dirt. Scrambling to her feet like some beast of prey, she eyed her assailant. Seven of the soldiers of Galinda's Freedom squad had her surrounded.

"You think that's gonna stop me?" she mocked. With hands raised, she threw a fire-ball at one of them. One was hit and crumbled, but the others attacked her faster than she could concentrate. Suddenly she was surrounded and fists and steel-toed boots were kicking and punching her from all directions, over and over again. Her stomach was in serious pain, and suddenly there was a severe blow to her head and her mouth was now swimming in blood. Her head hit the ground once more.

But even that did not stop them. Out came their clubs and truncheons and they beat and kicked her while she lay on the ground. At last, however, when she felt that she was nothing more than a human sore, they ceased their attacks and vanished. She tried to push herself up onto her feet, but she was too weak and couldn't stay up long enough. Her face hit the ground again and her mouth was filled with dirt and blood.

"Glinda..." she called out, but in vain. She had cursed Glinda away once again. She had pushed away all the people who had ever cared for her, and here she was, lost and alone in a corn-field in her native Munchkinland, bleeding possibly to death. Nobody else was there: no Glinda, no Nessa, no Wizard, no Father, no Fiyero, no Madam Morrible. There was only Elphaba.

Her eyes faded and with terror and fear in her heart, she knew that she was going back into the darkness. She struggled in vain, trying to force her arms to move, her body to move, anything to move. In the darkness she heard the screams, the voices, the leering eye of the Evil Sword. The dark was her enemy, and she was falling back into it once again. But this time, she was alone: completely and utterly alone, and by her own choice.

* * *

**(AN: And so, beaten and left for dead, Elphaba slips in and out of consciousness. She's not dead, because if I killed her now, it would be permanently. You can only cheat death for so long before it loses its power. But she needed something severe to remind her of what she was putting her friends through, and she refuses to believe that she had died or that Glinda truly and deeply helped her. I think that's in keeping with her character, and it de-Sue-ifies her. Some say musical Elphaba is a MS, but not in _Ozian Adventures_. She pretty much becomes a total and complete...well, you know. And eventually even Glinda couldn't keep going with her.)**

**(But Glinda can't finish this task on her own, so please, please, PLEASE, beg Elphaba to stop being such a [insert bad word here] and remember that she really does care for Glinda. I'm sorry, but I just can't seem to make her learn. Every time I try, I get reminded of _RENT_ and my tolerance for Elphaba drops to zero. That's also what killed _The Land_: half-way through writing a story about how they [Elphaba and friends] were going to settle down at a new life and help this new country defeat the tyrant and bring peace to Maaptia, I lost tolerance for Elphaba and made her run off into Earth c. 17th century and take up Soul Edge. There's another reason I want to get this over and done with: I just can't stand her anymore and I can't keep pretending otherwise because that feels fake and contrived. So please, beg her to behave if only for a few chapters more so I can finish this story and be done with it all!)  
**


	20. Alone Again

**(AN:)**

* * *

**Alone Again**

Glinda had been wandering through the corn-field for what seemed like years. At last, however, she came to what she had been searching for: a painted burlap sack lying in the middle of the field. Even a crow could not spot it from the air, and the Freedom squads had thought they had done their job well. But there it was, just as it was supposed to be.

"Fifi!" she exclaimed.

"Who's there?" asked the scarecrow. "Glinda! Oh, it's you! Sweet Oz, it's been a long time since I last saw you. What happened? Elphaba disappeared and then you did, and then Kloxolk's friend the Roc showed up and brought us back to Oz, and then..."

"Yes, I know," Glinda sighed. "Nessarose told me the whole thing. Look, are you fit to..."

"What kind of a question is that?" he asked. "I'm completely unfit to go anywhere, or in case you haven't noticed, I'm only a head!"

"Well, your manners certainly haven't improved, Fifi," Glinda said. "So I guess I'll have to stow you away in here. I'm sorry, Fifi." She opened the bag on her back and, despite Fiyero's pleas, stuffed his head into the bag and sent off across the corn-field. As she was going, she could feel the head bobbing in the bag. It unsettled her to say the least, and so she halted and took the head out again.

"Do you have something to say, Fiyero?" she asked. "Because I'm not gonna put you back into the bag if you keep squirming about like a little rat back there!"

"I wanted to let you know that Kloxolk is outside of Center Munch," the scarecrow's head stated. "And what's eating you?"

"It's Elphie," Glinda sighed.

"You saw Elphaba?" the painted face seemed a little bit more chipper with that statement.

"I wish I hadn't."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that..." She paused, biting her lip and bowing her head as tears began welling up in her eyes. At last she raised her head and looked at the scarecrow's emotionless, button eyes. "Fifi, Elphie's changed since we last saw her. I don't know what happened, maybe it's been all the horrible things we've been through, or maybe she's always been like this, but something's horribly wrong with her."

"When hasn't there been something wrong with her?" he jokingly replied.

"This is serious, Fifi!" she said. "She...she threatened to kill me if I ever saw her again."

"That doesn't sound like her..."

"Well, it _was_ her!" Glinda shouted. She then sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been really hard, you know, going through all the stuff I did for her only to find out that she doesn't care...that she doesn't want anything more to do with me."

"We have time," the scarecrow said. "Why don't we start at when you left and we pick up from there?"

"Where do I begin?" Glinda began, stowing the scarecrow's head in her bag while she began the tale of her own adventures. The scarecrow was very attentive, speaking not a word but listening intently to what she said. When she came to the part where Elphaba began showing her darker side, Fiyero's face became increasingly grave. When she was done, he said nothing.

"I wish you would speak," she said. His silence was unnerving. She tried thrice more to get the head to talk, but he said nothing. At last, she had something else to say.

"Where are the others?"

* * *

Center Munch was quiet and empty, but Glinda was not foolish, not now. She had with her just the bag with Fiyero's head, and so she knew that she would have to play it safe. She crawled out from behind a building and made sure the coast was clear before she walked out into the square. Suddenly, however, she heard a noise of something being knocked over. Before she could run for cover, a figure with a large coat covering its head hobbled out of a building. For a moment, Glinda wanted to run, but then decided that it would not be too difficult to overcome someone who hobbled, if they turned violent, so she turned and stood her ground.

"Hello there, you wicked thing," the stranger said, speaking in a man's voice. The coat was removed and Glinda gasped when she saw the rugged form of one of the last people she had expected to see.

"General!" she exclaimed.

"Please," he held up his flesh hand. "Call me Evemar. I'm not in the army anymore, I'm still just half a man, I'm not a general."

"How did you manage?" Glinda asked. "Nessa told me that..."

"Oh, indeed I was," Evemar Kloxolk nodded ruefully. "But those thugs didn't take into account that I've lost the use of my clockwork limbs more times than I would like to admit. I know how to get around without them, and I hobbled about until I found where they took my limbs."

"I'm glad," Glinda sighed. "That's one less person to save."

"I can take care of myself, you know," Kloxolk replied. "I only wish they hadn't taken my sword. It had my entire history carved upon it, and I do not wish to lose it."

"We can look for it later," Glinda said. "We need to find Bic..."

"There's no need!" exclaimed the head sitting at the top of Glinda's bag. Turning about, she saw a bubble, a genuine pink bubble, floating down from the sky. Sitting in it was the red-haired duplicate, holding hands with Boq the Tin Woodsman. He was mobile again and a giddy smile was upon his face and his ax was in his hand.

"Isn't it wonderful?" he giggled. "I got to ride in Glinda's bubble machine! I'm holding her hand!"

"Please, Boq," red-haired Glinda said as they landed. "Don't let it go to your head." She then turned the Tin Woodsman over to his companions.

"Is this it?" the real Glinda asked.

"Where's Elphie? Didn't she go with you?" asked the red-head, mirroring the burning question of all of them.

Glinda sighed as she could feel tears welling up in her eyes again. "She elected not to help us."

"Dammit!" Kloxolk exclaimed.

"Still, it cannot be helped," the red-haired Glinda said. "We have to reach the Emerald City, and quickly."

"Wait, the Emerald City?" asked Kloxolk. "Isn't that under enemy control? Kirriku told us the whole story on the way here. We're storming the City without an army?"

"There's no time to raise an army!" exclaimed red-haired Glinda ruefully. "Though I wish there was: a real and proper army would go well here and might be able to liberate the City. But we have no time and stealth is our ally. Nessa is taking care of Liir back in Quadling and Kirriku makes too much of a sight in the sky, so it looks like it's just going to be the three of you."

"This is crazy!" exclaimed Boq.

"Wait, four of us!" Fiyero's head spoke up.

"But you don't have a body, Fifi!" returned the real Glinda.

"It doesn't matter," the scarecrow replied. "Just stuff a body and put my head on it and I'll be right as rain."

"Correction, _that_ was crazy," Boq said, pointing to Fiyero's body-less head. "But this, storming the Emerald City with only _three_ real people, is suicide! That witch has powers you'd never believe."

"Oh, trust me, Bi...I mean, Boq, I believe you," the real Glinda replied.

"You remembered my name!"

"If you want to leave," the red-head said. "You should go now. I can't go with you because I have to protect the people of Quadling and Nessa and Liir. No sense in me going with you, being assimilated by Galinda and you lot go back to find your child dead."

"She's right, she's right!" Fiyero's head wiggled vigorously against Glinda's back. "Go by all means, just keep them safe."

"Ozspeed to all of you," the red-head said. "Oh, by the way, Glinda?"

"Hmm?"

"Be on the lookout for Mombi, she is our only hope."

* * *

**(AN: And on that cryptic note, we end the latest chapter update.)**

**(I hope to get this finished a.s.a.p., before the world ends, so you can read some of it and have one last adventure: the last ride of the day, so to speak [don't sue me, Nightwish!])  
**


	21. A Witch in Time

**(AN: So I ordered Eden Espinosa's new album five [or six, by the 21st] days ago, and still no confirmation email that it was sent, much less it in the mail. -sigh- I'm starting to fear that it will never be here.)  
**

**(Okay, no tumblr, and none of Eden's Maureen sassing me through the computer, I'm going to finish this story!)  
**

* * *

**A Witch in Time**

It was nightfall when the small ragtag group reached the gates of the Emerald City. Before she left, the red-haired Glinda used a spell to get them past the Pine Barrens and well on their way down the ruin of the Yellow Brick Road. The rest was just keeping out of sight long enough to reach the Emerald City, which they eventually did. The Munchkin Mouse-Hole they found abandoned, as was the rest of the city as they made their way towards the Palace. Though they heard the roar of the mobs everywhere, there was no resistance until they came upon the Palace grounds.

Then they saw the mobs. More mock trials were being carried out and lynch executions, which caused even Boq to cringe in fear and shed a single tear down his metal face. Glinda wiped it away with her hand and told them to continue on.

"We can't be breaking down here and now," she said. "We still have to face you-know-who."

"Glinda!" Fiyero's head exclaimed. "I never knew you were so tough."

"Of course you did," she replied. "I walked into Mordor with you and dragged you up a cliff-side when you were wounded. I know what I have to do, and nothing's getting in my way, not this time."

"Why don't you shut up, you!" a voice grumbled.

They all turned about to what had previously looked like a pile of trash along the edge of the Palace fence. Sitting there was an old man who smelt sharply of whiskey.

"Who are you?" Glinda asked.

"Come here, pretty little thing," he held out his hands. "How 'bout a kiss?"

"Eww! Just answer my question!"

"I'm waiting for the daily payment," the old man said. "The new government's good, they throw money out like hay every night. I should be able to get enough for another pint or six."

"Why don't you buy some food or a proper house?" asked Boq.

"Why don't you go put that ax away, queer-bait?" growled the old man. "What I do is none of your business, unless you're running from Her Justness. Oh, but maybe you _are_? I'll get double rations at the breadline tomorrow if I turn in a..."

But while the old man was rising, Kloxolk struck him over the back of his head with his metallic hand.

"A rat," he said. "No offense meant to Rats, though."

"What was that they said about throwing out money?" Fiyero asked.

"The ginger Glinda told me about what went on here," Glinda said back. "She said Galinda was melting all the gold in Oz and giving it to the Nomes. I don't know, I've never seen a Nome before, but I wouldn't be prepared to believe one didn't exist. I've seen quite a lot since I've left Oz."

"But why would she just _give_ them Oz's gold?" asked Fiyero.

"I don't know," she shook her head. "But I'm sure she would know. Come on, let's..."

"Wait, take his jacket and trousers!" Fiyero urged.

"What?" all of them queried in surprise.

"You didn't see?" he asked. "He's sitting on a pile of money! Just stuff his pants and jacket with it and pop my head on top and I'll be able to help."

"Well, _this_ is awkward." Boq stated.

* * *

"Justice prevails!" the people of Oz shouted with one voice.

Upon the steps of the Emerald Palace stood Galinda. Before her were the latest victims, their pale bodies illuminated by the light of the torches carried by her mobs. Her mobs, she called them, for she was in total control of greater Oz. Soon the rest would be under her sway, and then she would move onward and outwards. She was the only one allowed to use magic, and she could make the Deadly Deserts passable. Perhaps she would invade Ev, Fliaan, Quox or Xixi: or perhaps she would leave Oz all-together and enter the other worlds. It was all for her taking.

But then she noticed something, a bit of magic she thought she had quite gotten rid of mere hours ago. She raised her hands up and the crowds quieted down to a murmur. She looked out among them, glaring them down with her dark eyes.

"There's a traitor among you," she announced. "One of you doesn't believe in freedom and justice, one of you still holds on to the old ways." Angry murmurs were echoing among the mob as they eyed each other suspiciously. What before had been unity was quickly turning back into anarchy.

"Ha!" she shouted, turning about with one hand raised. There they were, trapped and cornered at the walls of the Emerald Palace. There was Glinda, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Clockwork General, all of them trying to sneak into the Emerald Palace behind her back.

"You never learn, do you?" she asked the other Glinda. "_I_ am the power in this land!"

"Fine, you got us," Glinda said determinedly. "Kill us, then. Or what, put us away in the Southstairs?"

"Glinda, what are you doing?" whispered Boq.

"Oh, you think you're tough, now, don't you, dearie?" Galinda asked her other half. "I've been waiting patiently for your return, when I can finally get my hands around your scrawny little neck and take you back into me." She smiled. "But why rush things along?" She turned back to the mob.

"Here are the traitors, the villains of justice and freedom!" she announced. "What is your sentence?"

"Kill them! Kill them!" the crowds chanted.

Galinda turned back to her duplicate. "The people have spoken." She smiled and stood aside as the mob started to close in, murder in their eyes. But suddenly, they all jumped or stumbled back in shock. A pillar of sulfurous red smoke had appeared in their midst, between them, Galinda and their prey. As the smoke dissipated, a familiar figure appeared, clad all in black with a tall-peaked, wide-brimmed hat.

"Elphie!"

"It's the Witch!" one of the mob shouted. "She's back from the dead!"

"Someone get some water!"

"Kill her, stupid! She's standing right the..."

But suddenly, fire leaped from the witch's hand and the mob gave away. A ring of fire now erupted in a semi-circle around the mob and the others. The witch then turned to Galinda and the others.

"But, what happened?" Glinda asked. "You said you'd kill me if we ever..." But her words faltered as she saw, in the light of the raging infernal ring, the bruises and blood all over Elphaba's face.

"The freak comes back to Oz," Galinda mocked. "And everyone knows you're here. My my, there'll be no peace for you now, it seems. Still, the b*tch has a point, why _did_ you come back?"

"No one can threaten Glinda but me," Elphaba retorted, leveling a threatening finger in Galinda's direction.

"What are you gonna do, kill me?" mocked Galinda. "You know you can't defeat me." There was a flash of violet light, which flew off through the doors of the Emerald Palace.

"After her!" Elphaba shouted.

Without another word, the four now became five as they charged through the doors of the Emerald Palace and entered the long, dark, narrow corridor. Inside, they realized just how alone they were: not a sign of the Freedom squad or the laughter of Galinda. But the silence was even more unnerving and as they made their way through the dark corridor, their own footsteps scared them. Of course, out of them all, Elphaba had the worst of it: she, who was deathly afraid of the dark, was kept from running back through the door by the hand of Glinda on her shoulder. She had not the heart to shoo her away, for she knew that she was her only friend in the darkness.

"Don't be afraid, Elphie," Glinda said. "We've been down this particular corridor before, do you remember? When we first met the Wizard, there was fanfare and trumpets and everything was happy."

"Yes, I remember," the witch replied. "But now the Wizard isn't there."

"It was spooky when Boq and I came this way with D..." the Scarecrow was cut off.

"Don't mention her name," Glinda hissed.

They walked on in silence, as the corridor seemed to stretch on longer than they had imagined. But they were still within the Emerald Palace, or so it seemed. But the corridor was deathly silent and every move was so much louder and reverberated off the huge walls of the hall, until they knew that there could no longer be any stealth in their mission.

At last the doors at the farthest end of the corridor opened and a light spilled in from beyond. Carefully they passed through the arch and entered the Throne Room. But it was not as it had been before. The throne was gone and in its place was a giant tower, made of sand-blasted marble, with a single, narrow staircase winding around its outer edge. But what was the most amazing thing about this was that the tower was impossibly high, stretching off into the clouds above their heads. There were clouds at the roof of the Throne Room, but there was no sign that a hole had been broken in the roof: it looked as though there were a perfect hole into the sky here in the Throne Room of the Emerald Palace and into the midst of this had been thrown this colossal tower.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Elphaba.

"Maybe it's a mirage," Kloxolk suggested. "Some kind of reflected image, or a spell."

Elphaba threw a ball of fire out of her hand, conjured almost instantly by her thought rather than speech, and heaved it at the base of the tower. It broke against it, scorching the stones black with the fire. The stones were still there, though: just as substantial as ever. Slowly, Elphaba walked towards the tower and placed her hand on it. Her hand did not go through it, but rested upon hard, cold stone.

"But this can't be!" she said. "The top just disappears into the clouds!"

"Who knows what she can do!" Boq exclaimed frightfully.

"We have to try, though," Glinda reminded them. "We've revealed ourselves rather foolishly: if we run away now, she'll just hunt us down one by one and kill us. We have to stop her here and now."

"I'll go with you," Kloxolk said. "Boq as well."

"B-But-But-But..."

"But what?"

"My shiny tin body!" he exclaimed. "What if she damages it?"

"This is not the time to turn into a dandy again!" Kloxolk scolded. "You have an ax, for Lurline's sake! Use it!"

"I'll go, even if I don't know what good I can do," the Scarecrow stated.

"Well, shall we?" asked the witch as she made her way to the steps.

"Wait, Elphaba, wait!" Glinda stepped forward. "I've had it with you. One minute I tell you that I love you and you go with me, then something happens and you threaten to kill me. I want an answer, right and right now, dammit, or I swear that I'll do the worst thing possible to you."

"Like you're even capable of harming me..."

"Elphie, I'm serious! Tell me why you came back!"

There was silence as the witch noticed that she was being watched by all of them in the dimly-lit Throne Room. She hung her head, removing the hat from off it as she tried to speak the words. At last, she raised her head and spoke to Glinda.

"I almost died again," she said. "But I just barely survived, and I thought about what you said." She paused. "You walked through the darkness, through the land of the dead, to save me, and I was being pretty petty. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I forgive you, Elphie," Glinda shook her head vigorously, biting her lip as tears were welling up in her eyes.

"While I was thinking," Elphaba continued. "I came to the realization that I've put you through too much, and I'm sorry for that as well. We go well together, you and I." She made half an attempt at a smile. "Did you really think I'd let you run off to face your death alone?"

"Oh, Elphie..."

"There will be plenty of time for tears later," Elphaba said. "Fight or fall, we do this together, Glinda. Will you take me back as your friend?" She held out her emerald hand towards Glinda.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence as everyone watched and dared not speak. Glinda did not speak or move for a long time either: she eyed the hand through tears, praying and hoping that Elphaba would be true _this_ time. At last, however, her tiny hand seized the emerald one in the strongest grip she had ever given: so strong was it that it would have made her younger self quake, as well as any man whose hand had been in hers. Without another word, the two women turned towards the stairs and started running. Behind them came the men, hobbling, running and clanking as best they could. But none could catch the two witches: no one would ever catch them again.

* * *

**(AN: So, one more listen to "Domino the Destitute" and I got them back together, if only for this adventure!)**

**(I felt that that last moment was a good one, when Elphaba and Glinda hold hands and run up the Tower, ready to face whatever is in their way. As one of them once said, "Together, we're unlimited. Together, we'll be the greatest team there's ever been." Consider this my nod to those lyrics and the indomitable and undefeatable team of Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland.)**

**(Was that decent enough and not too cheesy? I felt that it was a good way to bring her back without compromising her character and getting her into the battle against Galinda [which is what is coming next].)**


	22. The Last Apocalypse

**(AN: If one looks back on this story, or the _Ozian Adventures_ as a whole, there are two over-arching themes. One of them, of course, is the indomitable will of our two characters. Glinda went through hell [pretty much literally] to save Elphaba, and Elphaba restrained herself long enough to come back to her senses. There is another theme, also, about fighting inner demons and the greatest enemy of all: one's own self.)**

**(The title of this has many reasons, one of which being the day it was published [December 21st, 2012], but also the word "apocalypse" means revealing, which is appropriate because of what happens.)**

* * *

**The Last Apocalypse**

The tower rose much farther than Glinda remembered there being stairs in the Emerald Palace, yet they never saw any of it. Once they reached the roof of the Emerald Palace, they passed on through black clouds. On and on they ran through them, feeling hot ash blowing against their faces. This was not a cloud, but ash: hot, searing ash that massed about the flanks of the tower. The top was hidden in the clouds of ash, and so they steeled themselves against it and continued onward and upwards on the stairs. Behind them came Kloxolk and Boq, who tried to shelter the Scarecrow from the burning ash, in case he caught fire.

At last, however, they came up through the clouds of smoke and ash and found themselves in a darker place. The night-sky was gone, replaced by an empty, inky blackness filled with stars. But something was wrong with the stars: they were burning out. There was fire in the Void and the stars were going out one by one in tiny flashes of light. This tower seemed to be in the center of it, or perhaps it _was_ the center of it. They looked up and saw that the tower's pinnacle was within sight. By now they were walking, quite exhausted and forcing themselves to continue walking. As they reached the last stair, they saw the top of the tower was bare, save for a few broken pillars that lay on the rim.

And standing there, with a gleeful look on her face, was Galinda.

"The day the skies burn and come crashing down," she said, gesturing to the celestial inferno about her. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"What did you do?" Glinda asked.

"Oh, this isn't me," the other one replied. "This _will_ happen. I've brought it here, the Celestial Tower, the Burning of the Heavens: all of it. I want to show you your fate, if you choose to fight me. Because I know what will happen, and if I fall, all this will come to pass and this will be your last battle, Glinda the Self-Righteous. You will die here on the Celestial Tower, completely powerless to save the worlds burning to ash around you."

"Why would you show me this?" Glinda asked.

"Because I don't want to kill you," Galinda answered. "As pathetic as you are, you are still me and..."

"And you need her, is that it?" Elphaba replied.

"I wasn't talking to you, freak!" Galinda shouted, waving her hand and sending Elphaba face-down into the floor. She then turned to Glinda.

"You know it, don't you?" she asked. "You've felt it for six months since you made me: the sickness, the lethargy, the weakness."

"You said you didn't have it," Glinda retorted. "That was a lie."

"One thing you should always know, dearie, never let on that you're weak." Galinda flashed the other one a mocking smile, then continued. "We don't need to fight anymore." She held out her hand. "Take my hand, and we can end this, all of it."

"Don't you touch her!" Elphaba shouted. "I know what will happen if you do."

"Oh, because you robbed the grave beneath the Cloister of St. Glinda?" asked Galinda. "Yes, I know what happened. She didn't talk, so I assimilated her into me, all of your memories of her. You've been rather wicked, freak. You left your precious Glinda to die so many times. Why she keeps forgiving you, I'll never guess."

"Step back, Glinda," Elphaba ordered.

"No," Glinda shook her head, then turned to her duplicate. "I can't believe you'd ask that of me: just forget that you've killed so many people, single-handedly destroyed peace and justice in Oz, and join you!"

"I thought you'd say that," Galinda smiled. "Makes this a lot easier." She suddenly began walking towards Glinda, when a fire ball was thrown at her from Elphaba. A ray of violet energy appeared and absorbed the blow. Galinda turned to the witch.

"You just don't know when to _quit_, do you?!" she roared.

"I swear, I'll kill you if you harm a hair on her head!" Elphaba threatened.

"You sticking up for her?"

"She's my friend," Elphaba replied. "I'd gladly risk my life for her, as she did for me!" She threw another ball of fire, which was easily deflected.

"Stupid freak!" Galinda mocked. "You still haven't figured it out yet, have you? _You_ will never be able to harm me."

"Do you want to test that?"

Before another word could be said, Elphaba began throwing fire-balls at Galind as thick as hail. But Galinda's magic was powerful and she deflected the fire-balls easily: not even one of them came close enough to scorch her pale-white skin. From one side, Kloxolk slowly led the others to flank Galinda, but the witch was too quick.

"Elphaba Thropp!" she announced. "Wicked Witch of the West, aspect of fire. Did you think you're the only one who can start fires?" She turned towards the Scarecrow just as a fire-ball from Elphaba's hands came flying towards her head. One gloved hand caught the fiery missile and she held it, seething and burning, in a shell of violet energy.

"Look at that," Galinda smirked. "You've killed him again!" She thrust her hand out at the Scarecrow, and the flaming missile shot out and struck the Scarecrow on the chest. He crumbled to the ground, crying out in pain. Elphaba did not move, but her face betrayed sorrow and concern.

"Make your choice, freak," Galinda said. "He won't die immediately, but the fire is long-lasting, slow-burning, and will not respond to your commands. You can't magick it away from him: you'd have to break off the fight and put it out yourself. But if you do, then Glinda is mine."

"Elphie, just go!" Glinda shouted. "Fiyero needs you!"

"You need me!"

"Don't abandon him again, Elphie!" she turned back. "Not this time."

Elphaba nodded, then turned and ran towards where Fiyero lay. But before she could reach him, an invisible hand struck her down and seemed to pin her to the ground, keeping her from reaching Fiyero and crushing her out at the same time.

"Did you think I would make it that easy?" Galinda mocked.

"Leave her alone!" Glinda shouted. "She's not your enemy, I am."

"Correction, you _both_ are!"

"What did she ever do to you that makes you want to hurt her so much?"

"Idiot!" shouted Galinda. "Have you forgotten me already? For nineteen years, I had your entire devotion and love. Our wills went hand in hand, and then you met _her_. That night, at the Ozdust Ballroom, you turned your back on me...for _her!_ Only your spell brought me new life, and I intend to use this life to pay you back: one way or another, by my hand or by the falling stars, both of you shall die!"

"So what about Oz?" she asked. "All those people, all the people _you_ killed!"

"It was nothing," dismissed Galinda. "Let the stupid people tear themselves apart, it won't matter, any of it. It was just for fun."

"For fun?" Glinda asked in shock. "You tore down Oz for fun? You killed people for fun?"

"Yes, now you see it," Galinda replied. "Anything that goes against my will must die."

"Don't listen to her!" Elphaba groaned. "She's not all-powerful, you can..."

"Won't you just shut up already?" Galinda shouted and waved her hand at Elphaba. Her mouth was quieted and it looked as though the invisible hand was crushing the life out of her.

"Wait, wait!" Glinda held up her hands. Galinda turned towards her with all the curiosity of one inspecting an insect on their shoulder.

"I give in, I surrender," she said. "Please, just don't hurt my friends."

"Glinda, what are you doing?"

"So easy to break your will?" Galinda scoffed. "I had thought you were stronger than that."

"You were right, though," Glinda said, with hands held up. "Elphaba can't hurt you, because you're not of this world. You know? I read the Grimmerie spell, and I know what you are. You're me, but you've grown stronger, I think."

"And now you surrender," Galinda applauded mockingly, clapping her hands slowly. "Very impressive. I'll try to make your death quick, because you've chosen to cooperate. I can't promise it will be painless."

"Wait a minute," Glinda held up her hands. "I'm not dying."

"What are you saying? You know what will happen when I touch you, you saw what I did to you when you came back here!"

"I saw that," Glinda nodded, a look of fear on her face as she walked slowly towards Galinda. "I also know that there's only one thing that can hurt you, one thing you're afraid of. You've been acting tough, but it hurt you, I felt it. Elphaba was right, and you're bluffing."

"I am not bluffing!" shouted Galinda as she waved her hand at the others. They also were now being crushed by the invisible hand, as the Scarecrow was slowly burning.

"Your powers are impressive, I'll give you that," Glinda said. "You made this Celestial Tower appear in the Emerald Throne Room, you showed me my fate. But there's one thing you can't control, something that can still control you and decide _your_ fate!" Glinda was now within arm's reach of her duplicate.

"And what's that?" Galinda asked, trying desperately to appear secure and imposing.

"Me!" Glinda said, wrapping both of her arms around her duplicate.

"Glinda, no!" Elphaba shouted.

But it was too late. Glinda held Galinda fast in her arms, as the golden light exploded around them. It was so bright that Elphaba started to fear. She had been wrong before, she was willing to admit that, if only to herself. But she was afraid now even more that, in this most critical moment, she had been mistaken. This tower made her fear for everything she had thought was real. It defied everything she knew about the world and about magic, and yet it was there, whether she chose to believe in it or not. It was there, and it had been brought there by Galinda's power. It was real enough, and no illusion: if she could create seemingly effortlessly, perhaps she was truly as powerful as she had claimed.

Glinda's life was hanging in the balances as the crushing weight caused Elphaba to lose consciousness.

* * *

**(AN: Okay, we finally got to the part I needed to come to and there is the fight. But what happened? Oooh, there's still some interest in this story [thank you once again, _Bubble_])**

**(Is anything unclear? I've tried to leave some contextual clues in the author's notes and in the prose. Don't forget to review.)  
**


	23. Scion

**(AN: Well, this chapter is, hopefully, going to get longer as it goes. And thank you once again for reviews, we're almost wrapping things up, though it might just be left open for another author to take it up...or me, if I finally get around to continuing this story.)  
**

* * *

**Scion**

Elphaba slowly woke up, her head aching and everything still very hazy. She saw the top of the tower and the stars, but there was light growing. The stars were slowly fading away and she felt safe: light was coming back and everything would be safe, just as long as the darkness was being dispersed. She looked about frantically, and saw a body lying on the floor in the middle of the tower. It was draped in black.

"No!" she cried, pushing herself onto her knees and crawling across the floor to the body. Her head ached and she couldn't center herself long enough to summon any magic, should she need to defend herself, but that didn't matter: Glinda was dead, but she couldn't believe that it had actually happened. She fumbled through the black dress and suddenly halted when she found one body there, only one. It had blond hair.

"Glinda..." she wept, reaching out to the lying form of her friend.

She feared that it was too much, the strain. She had witnessed them touching hands before and what had happened. She was dead, she feared. She took the body in her arms, holding her just as she had in the cave in the Vinkus, when she feared that Glinda was indeed dead for real. That had all been a farce, and now it would all be over: but this time, it would be for real. There would be no second chances, no more duplicates to save her at the last...

Glinda's blue eyes snapped open and Elphaba gasped.

"Glinda!" she exclaimed. "You're alive!"

But Glinda didn't respond, she simply stared at Elphaba for a long while. Her hand reached up and shook for a moment before Elphaba took it in hers. She slowly helped the young girl up to her feet as all around them, the sky and the tower faded into blacks and greens. They had never left the Emerald Throne Room.

"Glinda, what's wrong?" Elphaba asked. Glinda had not spoken, but her eyes were filled with sadness. She seemed to be looking not at what was in front of her, but something beyond even Elphaba's sight.

"Glinda, what is it? You scared me, but...but you're alright. Glinda, talk to me!"

At last Glinda spoke, but she spoke as one exhausted, as though she had spent a long time running, yet all she had done was lie down.

"I..." she breathed. "I've seen so much." She placed her hand on her forehead. Then her breath began to rise. "Oh my Oz, Elphie! _He's_ coming back!"

"He? Who's he?"

"He's growing powerful," she continued. "He's so powerful, even from beyond the grave. His influence is spreading everywhere, on so many worlds: he's coming back to Oz. He's going to destroy us all!"

"Glinda, what are you saying? Yo-You're not making sense!"

"I..I..." she suddenly looked at Elphaba and smiled. "We did it, Elphie!" She wrapped her arms around Elphaba's neck.

"What exactly _did_ we do?" Elphaba wept and laughed into Glinda's shoulder.

"Oh, you were right all along," Glinda began. "She couldn't touch me, not without great pain. She was lying: I was the stronger one, and I..." She rubbed her forehead again. "It was so painful, but I did it. I assimilated her back into me."

"But how could you do that?" Elphaba asked. "She was a genocidal maniac, and now that's inside you! How can you keep her from taking control again?"

"I don't know," Glinda shook her head. "I'll just try."

They turned to the others, who stood there stoically. The Scarecrow, however, seemed sullen, leaning against the wall with his head down. The fire had died along with the illusion, but he seemed as distant as ever. Elphaba slowly walked over to him, but he said nothing. Glinda turned then to the others, who looked on her with admiration.

"Well done, Glinda!" Boq clapped excitedly.

"You've done very well," Kloxolk replied. "I only wish there were something I could have done to help you."

"That time might still come," Glinda smiled at him.

"Well, we're obviously not needed here anymore," Boq said to Kloxolk. "We might as well go outside and see if the mob's dispersed." He walked off down the hallway, with Kloxolk hobbling on behind him.

"Uh," Glinda made a face, turning to Elphaba, who was now walking towards the Scarecrow. "I think you two need some alone time. I'll just, uh..." She stepped back, but stumbled. She turned around and saw some things lying in a horde, half hidden beneath a shroud. She saw a familiar sword within the pile and picked it up before following after the others. She passed through the corridor and walked outside, where she saw Boq and Kloxolk standing just outside the Emerald Palace. They turned back as she passed through the doors and Kloxolk's eyes exploded.

"That's my sword!" he said, falling down to one knee. "That's my history! Where did you find it?"

"I think her Freedom squads were hoarding treasures in the Emerald Palace," Glinda said. "Here, it's yours again."

"Oh, Glinda!" he exclaimed. "This puts me well in your debt!"

"Don't mention it," Glinda smiled again, batting one eye at him in a coquettish wink.

"Oh, how lovely!" Boq exclaimed. They turned around and saw him approach something very odd-looking. The flower bed by the entrance of the door of the Emerald Palace was bare save for one small flower that was violet: a kind of ugly, faded shade. Boq now had it in his tin hands and placed it on his suit.

"There," he said, turning to the others. "How do I loo..."

But he was cut out in mid-sentence. The flower was growing, and now Boq was lying on the ground with an old woman in an ugly violet dress with a hideous hat on her head. She turned to Glinda, then suddenly was transformed before their eyes. Now a giant gryphon was roaring, rearing up on its hind legs, then spreading its wings and flying off into the south.

"That's not good," Glinda said. "Look, I need to go after that thing, where's the...Oh! That's where it's at!" Without another thought, she dashed back through the palace doors and ran to Elphaba's side. Moments later she was dragging her back along side her, and the witch had her broom in hand.

"Glinda, what in Oz's name are you..."

"No time to talk, now," Glinda said. "We've got a beast to catch!" She hopped onto the broom and took off, with Elphaba holding onto Glinda's shoulders for dear life.

* * *

Glinda was flying faster than she could have ever believed, both hands holding onto the broom. It felt amazing, the rush and the thrill of flying. She had always been holding on from the back, especially in the past few days, and now she was in control. Slowly she was gaining on her enemy, the tiny speck of a gryphon getting nearer and nearer.

Below them, the land was flying so fast that it seemed even more unreal than any of the stories they had heard about Nomes, other worlds or anything else. For them, their only goal was flying away, passing over the lands of the Quadlings quicker than lightning. Just on the horizon appeared lines of dirty brown, and Glinda gulped. The Impassable Sands of the Deadly Desert. Would this creature really go that far? Was she _that_ desperate? The other Glinda had told her what to look for, and she had known the depiction from her childhood stories, but was she really that desperate to escape capture? What secret could possibly be so worth hiding that one would rather die than share it?

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Glinda steered the broom down into the trees below. They halted for a while, hidden in the trees on the ground, as they saw the gryphon shrivel into the form of the old woman. Striding towards her, with a wand in her hand, was one of the last people Glinda had expected to see.

He red-haired duplicate.

"Now, Mombi," she said, pointing her wand at the fallen crone. "Tell me what you did with Ozma."

"Why should I tell you?" the old woman mocked.

"Apart from the fact that I defeated your illusion and you?" Glinda the red-haired replied. "Come on, now, tell me."

"You still haven't convinced me!"

"Do you know who I am?" red-haired Glinda asked. "I'm the one who overthrew Galinda, the Goddess of Freedom, single-handed! Now think about that, she was a much more powerful witch than you could ever be, and if I could do that to her, think what I could do to you." The old woman shivered. "Alright, now tell me what you know."

"Isn't it obvious?" the old woman asked. "You saw her with me, that night in the witch's castle!"

Glinda said nothing, but the wand did not move from the witch's direction. "Give me the counter-spell, now!"

There was a moment of silence, after which Glinda dismissed the witch angrily, and she turned back into a gryphon and flew away. It was then that the real Glinda and Elphaba emerged from the trees, quite startling the red-haired Glinda.

"You let her go?" Glinda asked.

"She can't do any real harm anymore," the red-haired Glinda said. "Besides, it's not in my power to harm her: that will happen later, and when it does, she won't be coming back." She then turned to the real Glinda. "But she said I knew where she was at, but I didn't. Was that..."

"Yes, it was me," Glinda sighed. "And I think I know where they'll be going. I need to get back to the Emerald City." She smiled. "The rightful ruler of Oz has returned."

"I'll conjure a bubble to make your flight swifter," the red-head Glinda said, then halted. "I hope that my capturing Mombi and revealing where _she_ is has earned me the right to live..."

"Of course," Glinda laughed. "No need to worry. After all that you've done, who'd believe a blond Glinda?" The other one laughed, and the real Glinda turned to Elphaba, only to see her friend with head bowed and back turned.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It looks like I'll have to leave again," she said. "I don't belong in Oz anymore, there's no battle here, no injustice to fight."

"Oh," Glinda's face fell in sadness.

"Who knows," Elphaba added. "I might be around, some time or another. I mean, I have to make sure the new government is doing things right, and you still have an important place in that, and you'll need my help."

"Not anymore, Elphie," Glinda shook her head.

"Still, might just do it for fun, then, eh?" she smirked. "Besides, never was one for crowds, not when they're always staring at me."

"This is new," Glinda laughed mirthlessly. "I thought you loved the attention."

"Don't need it anymore," Elphaba shook her head. "I've got a scarecrow and a sister to save." She picked up her broom and set off to fly away.

"Wait, Elphie!" Glinda added. "How will I find you?"

"You know where to look," she replied, then she took off into the dark lingering on in the western sky.

In the east the sun was rising, the time of darkness was over. But the wicked witch was flying out _into_ the darkness. Fear it though she may, that was her destiny: to battle the darkness forever in darkness. Glinda, however, had a purpose of her own, which she realized as she sat in the bubble, flying towards the Emerald City. She would go back to the City and begin rebuilding Oz with the help of Oz's one true leader. She had had enough fighting for one lifetime, and she would not be going on any long adventures anymore, not till the last great one. But she realized what her purpose now was: she had fought the darkness, but her purpose was not as a warrior. Her strength and love for the innocent and weak meant that she would stand in the light, protecting ever the people of the light from the things of the shadow.

"Ozspeed, Elphie," she sighed. She had never gotten the chance to say goodbye to her when she had 'died', almost a year ago.

"Good luck."

* * *

**(AN: That was good, don't you think? Wraps most of our stories up, but leaves enough for a continuation in case me [or someone else] wants to continue. And I hope you can guess who 'Oz's one true leader' is. However, as we saw in _The Great War of Oz_ [and in the re-visited one, if I ever get to fix it up], she's not as good as people say she is. Oh well.)**

**(I hope you've enjoyed the series. For now, however, we will leave our heroes and heroines for another day. I wish there were more I could add, but I just want to bring this story to a conclusion and say 'let that be that'. I can't think of any other adventures in Oz or worthy cross-overs to do. [then again, if I get enough requests then I, like Baum, may just continue. I just might -wink-])  
**

**(Until then, Ozspeed and goodluck!)  
**


	24. Epilogue

**(AN: Well, _LittleGreenFae_'s story started with a prologue, so I thought I'd finish this story with an epilogue.)  
**

* * *

**Epilogue**

It had been so easy, jumping onto her broom and flying off into the Western sky. That was how life had been for Elphaba Thropp: run away far enough and fast enough, and all her problems would go away. However, as she soared into the dark of the west, she suddenly found that she could not. She had run out on them for far too long, and she just couldn't do it anymore. Glinda could take care of Oz without her, she had no doubt, but she knew that she would not be allowed back in Oz, not for a long time. Even if she were indeed to leave, she had to say goodbye to them.

She turned her broom into the east, towards the rising sun, and sped on towards the Emerald City. As she passed by, she ducked down almost parallel to the ground. The shine of the rising sun was glinting off a bubble floating down to the city, and she could not afford to be caught by Glinda again.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

The witch had thought that she had been clever, but she wasn't nearly as clever as she thought she was: or else, her friends were not as stupid as she believed them to be. While flying back to her palace, red-haired Glinda noticed that the small black speck that was the witch had turned east, towards the Emerald City. Her heart leaped, and she skipped the last few steps once she set down on the porch of her palace.

"Nessa!" she exclaimed merrily. "Oh Nessa!"

Running at the mention of her name, Nessarose appeared through the doorway, shushing Glinda.

"I just put Liir to bed!" she hissed frustratedly.

"So wake him up!" Glinda replied. "Elphie's going to the Emerald City before she leaves."

"So?" Nessa retorted. "She doesn't want anything more to do with Fiyero, Liir, you or me."

"You need to go immediately," Glinda insisted. "I have a very strong feeling that you and Liir _need_ to be in the Emerald City. You both need to see her before she leaves. It's important."

Nessa sighed, then walked back to her room to wake Liir back up. Glinda, meanwhile, began conjuring another transport bubble for the journey, hoping that she would not be too late. Her hunch just _had_ to be correct, for all their sakes.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

The witch appeared in the Emerald Palace, where the others had remained since Galinda's defeat. Glinda wasn't there, thank goodness: Boq and Kloxolk were waiting at the far end of a curtained-off portion of the Throne Room, while the Scarecrow's head was still hung in abject sorrow. Thither she went, approaching the Scarecrow she had once loved.

"Fiyero," she greeted, putting on a smile. The Scarecrow looked up at her, and her heart seemed to melt under the sorrowful look on his painted face.

"Listen," she began, feeling suddenly sympathetic towards the position of her true father so many years ago, in this very room, when he had to explain his despotism to his angry daughter. "I...Something happened, something that I still can't describe. I'm just starting to piece things together, memories, dreams, that's all I have to go on. I honestly don't remember. Anything that happened, I...I...I..."

He said nothing.

"Please, Yero, say something!"

"It's Fiyero, Elphaba." he replied grimly.

"Right, Fiyero," she gulped, her eyes falling once again to the ground. "Please, try to understand, I can't explain what happened, I...I..."

"It's always been about you, hasn't it?" Fiyero asked. "You went to save your sister, and I went with you and this happened." His gloved hand reached up and gestured to his face. "You abandoned us when we needed you the most, without even saying goodbye..."

"I know, and I feel so awful about it," Elphaba pleaded. "But, please, can you just give me another chance?"

The Scarecrow said nothing, but his face was kept downcast.

"I mean it this time," she said, but bit her lip as she felt that she had misspoken.

"You mean you _didn't_ mean it the last time?" the Scarecrow asked. "So how do I know you really _do_ mean it this time?"

Elphaba was caught at a loss for words. He was right and justified in what he was saying, and she had no defense for herself. One, because she could not even remember what she had done and two, because she knew that he was right. Based on her behavior over the past few days, since Glinda rescued her, she knew that everything he was indirectly accusing her of was correct.

It was at this time that two red-heads appeared in the throne room of the Emerald City. One of them hid herself from sight, urging the other one to go out and meet her sister.

"Elphaba," Nessarose spoke up. Both the Scarecrow and the witch turned to the newcomer, who was holding sleeping Liir in her arms.

Once Elphaba saw the child, her son, a change came over her, one that was visible to both her sister and her husband. Her face became shocked, as though she was seeing something again for the first time. Tears were in her eyes and her hands were shaking.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

For some reason, Elphaba's mind shot back to Worms. She was lying on her back, feeling as though her loins were being ripped apart. On either side were Glinda and Nessarose, both of them holding her hands as she held them in her iron grip. Barely visible over her belly was the mid-wife, muttering and giving her instructions. She had tried to forget what happened that moment, even to this day. Not only had it been the greatest pain she had ever endured, but it was the most frightening, trying moment of her life. Her first memory had been of her own mother, Melena Thropp, dying giving birth to Nessarose. Her heart failed her.

_I'm going to die.._. were the only thoughts in her head throughout the delivery.

But then it was over. The pain was going away and suddenly there he was, a tiny thing writhing and wriggling in the blankets the mid-wife had provided for her. She, Elphaba, had lived through the exhausting ordeal, and now there was this little life being given into her arms. She was feeling things she had never felt before, such feelings she thought she would never feel, that she was even incapable of feeling.

**-~-z-|-Ø-|-z-~-**

"Oh, my baby!" Elphaba cried, holding a hand up to cover her mouth. She snatched the child out of her sister's arms, now crying from being roused by her mother's raised voice. But the green-skinned woman now cradled her child once again, shushing him and smiling at him through her tears.

"Welcome back, Elphaba," Nessarose said, smiling wide at her sister.

Elphaba's shoulders relaxed as she felt a stuffed arm being wrapped around them.

"Knew you'd come back, Fae," he said.

"Oh, Yero!" she laughed, but her eyes were still on the child.

"I was right, you know," Nessa said. "So was Fiyero. You're capable of being a mother."

The three of them turned their backs on the Throne Room of the Emerald Palace, walking down one of the many halls that terminated in the Throne Room. For the witch, her time in Oz had come to an end. Fiyero, Nessa and she left the Emerald Palace and turned their eyes eastward once again. They had one more journey to make before they could be free, where they could settle down and find a world where they would be welcome. While the war had been won in Oz, with the return of Ozma, for Elphaba Thropp, wife, mother, companion of the Nine Walkers, wielder of the Cursed Sword, cheater of death and the Wicked Witch of the West, the journey has just begun.

* * *

**(AN: How do you like that? Leaves it open again for a continuation, and we also get to see that Elphaba isn't as naughty as before. Once again, I felt that she needed to be redeemed. As far as duality and facing one's demons, Glinda did that - she absorbed Galinda back into herself and now begins an eternal battle with her baser, meaner tendencies to keep her dark side in control - and Elphaba needed some character development, otherwise, it would just be a repeat of _The Land_ or other such chapters. She was reminded of her sacrifice and of how she loved Liir at the moment he was born, and seeing that response was what made Fiyero see that she was sincere about her choice to return to them. See? Red-haired Glinda has a purpose for returning. Most everyone has a purpose in this story, which is what I like about it.)**


End file.
